Atheism in the Anglosphere
American atheism
See also: American atheism
According to the 2014 General Social Survey (GSS), the number of atheists and agnostics in the United States has remained relatively stable in the past 23 years. In 1991, 2% of Americans identified as atheist, and 4% identified as agnostic. In 2014, 3% of Americans identified as atheists, and 5% identified as agnostics.[1]
In June 2016, American Interest reported:
| “ | First of all, religious belief is still very powerful and widespread, and there is nothing inevitable about its decline. In fact, the proportion of people who say they believe in God actually ticked modestly upward, from 86 percent to 89 percent, since Gallup last asked the question in 2014.[2] | ” |
Atheist Michael Nugent on the American atheist movement and its relationship to the global atheist movement
See also: Global atheism and Secular Europe and Asian atheism
According to the Irish atheist Michael Nugent: "The atheist movement is global. It is not defined by the mostly American ‘deep rifts’ disagreements."[3]
Nugent further indicates:
| “ | ‘Some of these more mainstream media analyses imply that there is a single ‘atheist movement’, and that it is best analysed through some opinions of some mostly American bloggers and activists who, while committed and sincere and doing good work, are not representative of atheist activism worldwide.’[3] | ” |
Post Elevatorgate (a July 2011 controversy in which the British new atheist Richard Dawkins was accused of misogny), there has been a lot of friction with the atheist movement (see: Atheist factions).
Various American atheists attacking the British new atheist Richard Dawkins resulted in a marked decline in Dawkins' influence/popularity and helped cause a very significant decline in the atheist movement as a whole (see also: Richard Dawkins' loss of influence and Decline of the atheist movement and British atheism). In addition, there is very little cooperation between Anglosphere atheists and other other atheists such as Asian atheists (most atheists are probably East Asians).
Nugent has spent a great deal of time publicly criticizing fellow atheist PZ Myers online, while at the same time criticizing Myers for publicly criticizing other atheists (Nugent privately asked Myers to change his behavior as well).[4][5]
In addition, Irish atheists have a reputation for being ill-tempered/quarrelsome just like their American counterparts.[6] According to the Irish Independent, "If there's one thing you can take for granted, it's that atheists tend to be a rather cranky bunch."[6] See also: Atheism and social/interpersonal intelligence
Furthermore, as noted above, the global atheist population is shrinking as a percentage of the world's population (see: Global atheism statistics). Asian atheism is seeing a decline due to the explosive growth of Christianity in China (see: East Asia and global desecularization). As far as Europe, in Protestant Europe, France and the UK, the secularization rate is at zero (see: European desecularization in the 21st century).
British atheism
See also: British atheism
A Eurobarometer poll in 2010 reported that 37% of UK citizens "believed there is a God", 33% believe there is "some sort of spirit or life force" and 25% answered "I don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force".[8]
Britain has had a significant influence on global atheism through its promotion of the atheistic ideology of evolution.
In the beginning portion of the 21st century, various members of Britain's atheists/agnostics, for example Richard Dawkins, have engaged in aggressive atheism evangelism efforts. In addition, the late Christopher Hitchens was born in Britain and emigrated to the United States in 1981 was a high-profile atheist. However, the movement they lead, New Atheism, has significantly waned and is now essentially dead (see: Decline of New Atheism).
A sign of desecularization and/or the ending of secularization in Britain
See also: UK and secularism and Acceleration of 21st century desecularization
The Guardian published an article in 2017 entitled Nearly 50% are of no religion – but has UK hit ‘peak secular’? which declared:
| “ | But, Bullivant told the Observer that the “growth of no religion may have stalled”. After consistent decline, in the past few years the proportion of nones appears to have stabilised. “Younger people tend to be more non-religious, so you’d expect it to keep going – but it hasn’t. The steady growth of non-Christian religions is a contributing factor, but I wonder if everyone who is going to give up their Anglican affiliation has done so by now? We’ve seen a vast shedding of nominal Christianity, and perhaps it’s now down to its hardcore.[9] | ” |
In the United States, the vast majority of individuals who are "Nones"/"no religion" (people who are not part of organized religion) believe in the existence of God. Fewer than 15% of the "nones" consider themselves atheists.[10]
Conatus News reported in 2017:
| “ | Church of England worshippers increase 0.8 per cent since 2009. The number of non-religious people falls from 50.65% to 48.6%
Rise in Church of England worshippers likely due to resurgence in patriotism and pride in Christianity, a report has found According to a new report, for every person brought up in a non-religious household who becomes a churchgoer, 26 people raised as Christians now identify as non-believers. The study, which is based on an analysis of the British Social Attitudes Survey and the European Social Survey, reported that the proportion of non-religious in the UK hit a high of 50.6 per cent in 2009. However, it has been decreasing ever since and hit 48.6 per cent in 2015. However, the proportion of those who identify as Church of England worshippers has seen a slight increased from 16.3 per cent in 2009 to 17.1 per cent in 2015.[11] |
” |
- ↑ Hout, Michael; Smith, Tom (March 2015). "Fewer Americans Affiliate with Organized Religions, Belief and Practice Unchanged: Key Findings from the 2014 General Social Survey" (PDF). General Social Survey. NORC
- ↑ Atheism is Rising, But…, American Interest
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "The atheist movement is global. It is not defined by the mostly American ‘deep rifts’ disagreements." by Michael Nugent
- ↑ Michael Nugent vs. PZ Myers, Atheist Revolution website
- ↑ Michael Nugent website - Search "PZ Myers"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 We're sorry. So very, very sorry. THE FIRST ATHEIST SCHISM?, Irish Independent
- ↑ Special Eurobarometer, biotechnology, p. 204". Fieldwork: Jan-Feb 2010.
- ↑ Special Eurobarometer, biotechnology, p. 204". Fieldwork: Jan-Feb 2010.
- ↑ Nearly 50% are of no religion – but has UK hit ‘peak secular’?, The Guardian, 2017
- ↑ Meet the 'Nones:' Spiritual but not religious
- ↑ British Patriotism Sees Number of Anglicans Rise and the Non-Religious Fall, Conatus News , 2017