Agnosticism, atheism, and humanism[edit]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, 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 an increase from 8% of the total population in 1990 to 15% in 2008.[3] A nation-wide Pew Research study published in 2008 put the figure of unaffiliated persons at 16.1%,[50] while another Pew study published in 2012 was described as placing the proportion at about 20% overall and roughly 33% for the 18–29-year-old demographic.[55] 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 trusted them less than 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.[56][57] 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.[58] Some surveys have indicated that doubts about the existence of a god were growing quickly among Americans under 30.[59] On 24 March 2012, American Atheists sponsored the Reason Rally in Washington D.C. This was followed by the American Atheist Convention at the Bethesda North Marriott and Convention Center in Bethesda, MD. Organizers called the estimated crowd of 8,000–10,000 the largest-ever gathering of nonbelievers in one place.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 13:41:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015