DNAinaGoodway

Here is a link that contains lots of consolidated survey results showing the growth of atheism and the decline of theism in the US:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_prac2.htm

There is also a good graphic, showing the results, state by state:

http://www.usatoday.com/graphics/new...gion/flash.htm

The states where non-believers are in the majority are all western, save for Vermont.

For those of you who live in that obscure and little known region called the rest of the world, sorry, haven't found comparable data yet.

JohNeo

Not to get too technical, but unfortunately there is not a state in the US where non-believers are in the majority. They may outweigh certain sects, but it looked to me like Washington State had the highest proportion of non-religionists (25%). Catholic, Baptist, other, they're all still xian. Also, I grew up in Wyoming, where they say 20% have no religion. I'm not so sure that means they are all agnostic/atheist, though. It seems to me like atheism was as unpopular a worldview in Wyoming as most other places. :huh:

JohNeo

Gurdur

Correct.
While according to the ARIS study, used as the basis for that report in the OP, the number of people identifying themselves as "nonreligious/secular" may well be on the rise in the USA, but according to that same study --- and with a poll size of 50,000, it seems the very best study at the moment --- a measly projected 0.5 % of the American pooulace self-identify specifically as agnostics, and an even smaller 0.4 % identify themselves specifically as atheists.
Welcome to the future where people simply don't think such a thing is worth worrying over ?

Godless Wonder

Anybody got a screen capture of that graphic of the state-by-state data for the flash impaired? (Or I suppose that's probably impractical due to animation/interactivity/copyright reasons....)

Berthold

It may be safely assumed that people are similar all over the world. In Austria, non-membership with recognized religions is on the rise ( 30 % in Vienna, and nationwide more than there are Protestants ), and surely many of these people are agnostics or atheists. The number, though, also contains many who view themselves as Christians dissatisfied with the hierarchy, and others who adhere to obscure superstitions. On the other hand, in opinion polls, there may be formal Catholics who say that religion does not mean much to them. Numbers can be hard to interpret.l

Dru2k

it's nice to here some good news. ATHEISM :notworthy

Nostalgic Pushhead

Go Vermont! :thumbs: