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→Atheists have a low retention rate compared to other worldviews
In addition, in atheistic Communist China, [[Christianity]] is experiencing rapid growth (see: [[Growth of Christianity in China]]).
In addition, in atheistic Communist China, [[Christianity]] is experiencing rapid growth (see: [[Growth of Christianity in China]]).
=== Collapse of atheism in the former Soviet Union ===
''See also:'' [[Collapse of atheism in the former Soviet Union]]
[[File:Bezhnoznik u stanka 15-1929.jpg|thumb|260px|A Soviet propaganda poster disseminated in the ''Bezbozhnik'' (''Atheist'') magazine depicting [[Jesus]] being dumped from a wheelbarrow by an industrial worker as well as a smashed church [[bell]]; the text advocates Industrialisation Day as an alternative replacement to the [[Christian]] Transfiguration Day. see: [[Militant atheism]] ]]
On July 3, 2005, the [[New York Times]] reported concerning many countries in the former [[Soviet Union]]: "A return to religion in [[Romania]] and the region's other formerly Communist countries has in many places outrun the speed at which the church can screen and train clergy..."<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/03/international/europe/03romania.html</ref>
In 2003, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard published a paper by Assaf Moghadam entitled ''A Global Resurgence of Religion''? which declared:
{{cquote|As the indications leave little doubt, [[Russia]] is showing clear signs of a religious resurgence. In fact, all seven criteria by which change in religious behavior and values are measured here confirmed that Russia is experiencing what could be called a religious revival. Since 1970, the nonreligious/atheist population has been on steady decline, from 52% in 1970 to 33% in 2000. Further, the percentage of this population is projected to decrease even further, possibly reaching the 20% mark in 2025. Between 1990 and 1997, belief in God has risen from 35% to a whopping 60%, while belief in the importance of God has climbed to 43% in 1997, up from 25% in 1990. More people have been raised religious in Russia in 1997 (20%) than at the beginning of the decade (18%), and 8.39% more Russians believed religion to be important toward the end of the 1990s, when compared to 1990. “Comfort in Religion” has also sharply increased within this time period, from less than 27% to over 46%. Finally, more and more Russians attend church services more regularly in 1997 than they did in 1990.
In the three Eastern European countries that were included in the WVS survey on belief in God, a drastic rise could be witnessed of respondents who answered this question in the affirmative. In Hungary, the percentage of believers in God jumped from 44% to 58% from 1981 to 1990, even prior to the collapse of the former [[Soviet Union]]. In Belarus, the number of people who believe in God nearly doubled over the course of the 1990s, from 36% to 68%, while in Latvia this figure almost quadrupled, from 18% to 67% in the same time period. Similar trends held true when it came to the importance of God, where there was a sharp rise in all three countries.<ref>Moghadam, Assaf (August 2003). [http://www.researchgate.net/publication/228395238_A_Global_Resurgence_of_Religion ''A Global Resurgence of Religion?''], p. 26. Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. Retrieved from ResearchGate network on May 29, 2015.</ref>}}
== Hopelessness of atheism and apathy ==
== Hopelessness of atheism and apathy ==