Since religion has been playing such a major role in several recent posts I thought I'd share a few facts about those of us who refuse to take things on faith.
Wikipedia has some good articles (note; our numbers have doubled in last 18 years):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligion_in_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States
A 2001 survey directed by Dr. Ariela Keysar for the City University of New York indicated that, amongst the more than 100 categories of response, "no religious identification" had the greatest increase in population in both absolute and percentage terms. This category included atheists, agnostics, humanists, deists, and others with no theistic religious beliefs or practices. Figures are up from 14.3 million in 1990 to 34.2 million in 2008, representing a proportionate increase from 8% of the total in 1990 to 15% in 2008.[3] Another nation-wide study puts the figure of unaffiliated persons at 16.1%.[19]
A study at the London School of Economics and Political Science based on a U.S. sample, showed that Americans who are atheist and liberal tend to have higher IQs by an average of 6-11 points. In addition, American men who identify as atheist and liberal are more likely to be sexually exclusive than average.[20]
In a 2006 nationwide poll, University of Minnesota researchers found that despite an increasing acceptance of religious diversity, atheists were generally distrusted by other Americans, who rated them below Muslims, recent immigrants and other minority groups in "sharing their vision of American society". They also associated atheists with undesirable attributes such as criminal behavior, rampant materialism, and cultural elitism.[21][22]
However, the same study also reported that, The researchers also found acceptance or rejection of atheists is related not only to personal religiosity, but also to ones exposure to diversity, education and political orientation--with more educated, East and West Coast Americans more accepting of atheists than their Midwestern counterparts.[23]
Wikipedia has some good articles (note; our numbers have doubled in last 18 years):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligion_in_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States
A 2001 survey directed by Dr. Ariela Keysar for the City University of New York indicated that, amongst the more than 100 categories of response, "no religious identification" had the greatest increase in population in both absolute and percentage terms. This category included atheists, agnostics, humanists, deists, and others with no theistic religious beliefs or practices. Figures are up from 14.3 million in 1990 to 34.2 million in 2008, representing a proportionate increase from 8% of the total in 1990 to 15% in 2008.[3] Another nation-wide study puts the figure of unaffiliated persons at 16.1%.[19]
A study at the London School of Economics and Political Science based on a U.S. sample, showed that Americans who are atheist and liberal tend to have higher IQs by an average of 6-11 points. In addition, American men who identify as atheist and liberal are more likely to be sexually exclusive than average.[20]
In a 2006 nationwide poll, University of Minnesota researchers found that despite an increasing acceptance of religious diversity, atheists were generally distrusted by other Americans, who rated them below Muslims, recent immigrants and other minority groups in "sharing their vision of American society". They also associated atheists with undesirable attributes such as criminal behavior, rampant materialism, and cultural elitism.[21][22]
However, the same study also reported that, The researchers also found acceptance or rejection of atheists is related not only to personal religiosity, but also to ones exposure to diversity, education and political orientation--with more educated, East and West Coast Americans more accepting of atheists than their Midwestern counterparts.[23]
