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American atheism

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According to the 2014 [[General Social Survey]] (GSS), the number of [[atheism|atheists]] and [[agnosticism|agnostics]] in the United States has remained relatively stable in the past 23 years. In 2014, 3% of Americans identified as atheists, and 5% identified as agnostics.<ref>Hout, Michael; Smith, Tom (March 2015). "[http://www.norc.org/PDFs/GSS%20Reports/GSS_Religion_2014.pdf Fewer Americans Affiliate with Organized Religions, Belief and Practice Unchanged: Key Findings from the 2014 General Social Survey]" (PDF). General Social Survey. NORC</ref> In 1991, 2% of Americans identified as atheist, and 4% identified as agnostic.<ref>Hout, Michael; Smith, Tom (March 2015). "[http://www.norc.org/PDFs/GSS%20Reports/GSS_Religion_2014.pdf Fewer Americans Affiliate with Organized Religions, Belief and Practice Unchanged: Key Findings from the 2014 General Social Survey]" (PDF). General Social Survey. NORC</ref>
 
On July 24, 2019, due to religious immigration to the United States and the [[Atheism and fertility rates|higher fertility rate of religious people]], [[Eric Kaufmann]] wrote in an article entitled ''Why Is [[Secularization]] Likely to Stall in America by 2050? A Response to Laurie DeRose'': "Overall, the picture suggests that the U.S. will continue to secularize in the coming decades. However, a combination of religious immigration, immigrant religious retention, slowing religious decline due to a rising prevalence of believers among the affiliated, and higher native religious birth rates will result in a plateauing of secularizing trends by mid-century." <ref>[https://ifstudies.org/blog/why-is-secularization-likely-to-stall-in-america-by-2050-a-response-to-laurie-derose Why Is Secularization Likely to Stall in America by 2050? A Response to Laurie DeRose] by Eric Kaufmann July 24, 2019</ref>
 
Darel E. Paul wrote at the [[First Things]] website:
{{Cquote|Even without demographic models, survey data since the 1970s show that the percentage of Americans with a “strong” religious affiliation has not declined at all; it is the “weak” that have turned into “nones.” Moreover, immigration brings primarily religious people from the Global South into the Global North. In his earlier book, Kaufmann predicted that America’s secular high-water mark will occur around 2030; in Western Europe, no later than 2070. In Kaufmann’s view, religious identity will largely overpower ethnic identity a century hence, “with seculars and moderates of all backgrounds lining up against the fundamentalist sects.”<ref>[https://www.firstthings.com/article/2019/11/the-future-is-mixed THE FUTURE IS MIXED] by Darel E. Paul, First Things website</ref>}}
Pew Research survey data indicates that the percentage of atheists in the United States has remained at 4% from 2015 to July 2019.<ref>[https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/ In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace], Pew Research</ref>
On November 6, 2015, the ''New Republic'' published an article entitled, ''Is the New Atheism dead?''<ref>[https://newrepublic.com/article/123349/new-atheism-dead ''Is the New Atheism dead?] by Elizabeth Bruenig, New Republic, November 6, 2015</ref>
In 2015, the atheist author Joshua Kelly wrote: "...since the death of Hitchens: angry atheism lost its most charismatic champion. Call it what you like: New Atheism, fire-brand atheism, etc., had a surge with the Four Horsemen in the middle of the last decade and in the last four years has generally peetered out to a kind that is more docile, [[Political correctness|politically correct]], and even apologetic."<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danthropology/2015/12/uproar-against-dawkins-is-sign-of-new-atheism-retrogression/ Uproar Against Dawkins Is Sign of New Atheism Retrogression] by Joshua Kelly</ref>
In addition, [[Baylor University]] reported in 2015:
*[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-writing-is-on-wall-godless.html The writing is on the wall amigos: Godless progressivism will not be dominant in the USA's future], August 14, 2013
=== Eric Kaufmann, Vegard Skirbekk and Anne Goujon religion/irreligion demographic projections ===
[[File:Loc of United States.png|thumbnail|200px|left|Current religious demography scholarship suggest that the relatively low fertility of secular Americans and the religiosity of the immigrant inflow provide a countervailing force that will cause the secularization process within the total population to plateau before 2043.
represents an important theoretical point in that demography permits society to become more
religious even as individuals tend to become less religious over time.<ref>[http://www.sneps.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/jssr_15101.pdf ''Secularism, Fundamentalism or Catholicism? The Religious Composition of the United States to 2043''], ''Journal for the Sientific Study of Religion'', vol. 49, no. 2 (June) 2010, Eric Kaufmann, Vegard Skirbekk and Anne Goujon,</ref>}}
 
According to British author Edward Dutton, religious people are more likely to migrate (there are various reasons postulated, but it remains unclear why this is so).<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgKx2lS6lRU Why Are Americans So Religious?]</ref> See also: [[Religion and migration]]
For more information, please see: [[Growth of global desecularization#Growth of evangelicalism in the world and in the United States|Growth of evangelicalism in the world and in the United States]] and [[Desecularization#American culture war, demographics and expected tipping point after 2020|American culture war, demographics and expected tipping point after 2020]]
In 2012, the organization PolitiFact Rhode Island accused American Atheists president [[David Silverman]] of wildly exaggerating the number of atheists in America by attempting to included the Unaffiliated (also called [[Nones]]) who made up about 15% of the United States population at the time (despite the fact that only 15 percent of "nones" identify as atheists) and by also attempting to lump agnostics with the [[Atheist Population|atheist population]].<ref>[https://www.politifact.com/rhode-island/statements/2012/feb/26/david-silverman/american-atheists-president-david-silverman-says-t/ American Atheists President David Silverman says there are twice as many atheists in U.S. as Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists combined] By C. Eugene Emery Jr. on Sunday, February 26th, 2012 at 12:01 a.m.</ref><ref>[http://www.pressdemocrat.com/csp/mediapool/sites/PressDemocrat/News/story.csp?cid=2501462&sid=555&fid=181 Meet the 'Nones:' Spiritual but not religious]</ref>
According to PolitiFact Rhode Island:{{cquote|"When the American Religious survey asked people what they thought of the existence of God, 2.3 percent said 'There is no such thing.'...When Pew asked a broader question -- "Do you believe in God or a universal spirit?" -- 5 percent said "No.""<ref>[https://www.politifact.com/rhode-island/statements/2012/feb/26/david-silverman/american-atheists-president-david-silverman-says-t/ American Atheists President David Silverman says there are twice as many atheists in U.S. as Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists combined] By C. Eugene Emery Jr. on Sunday, February 26th, 2012 at 12:01 a.m.</ref>}}
The 2008 [[American Religious Identification Survey]] (ARIS) found that only 0.7% of U.S. adults identified as atheist, but at the same time 2.3% said there is no such thing as a god.<ref>Barry A. Kosmin and Ariela Keysar, [http://b27.cc.trincoll.edu/weblogs/AmericanReligionSurvey-ARIS/reports/ARIS_Report_2008.pdf], March 2009, American Religious Identification Survey [ARIS 2008], Trinity College</ref> The reluctance of Americans to self-identify as atheists is likely due to the American public's low opinion of atheists (See: [[Views on atheists|Americans have a low opinion of atheists]]).