Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Principia · 01-05-2003, 10:01 AM

I got these from David B. Barrett's World Christian Encyclopedia:

Code:


Group (numbers in millions)     1900    1970   mid-2000  mid-2002   2025

Christians (total all kinds)    558.1  1236.3   1999.6    2050.6    2616.7
Nonreligious                      3.0   532.1    768.2     780.6     875.1
Atheists                          0.2   165.4    150.1     150.8     159.5

Does anyone know of other numbers from reliable sources?

Grizzly · 01-05-2003, 03:56 PM

And what's the difference between atheist and nonreligious?

And why on earth is the trend for nonreligious going down in 2025 when the past trends have it rising sharply?

Hmmm....

beejay · 01-05-2003, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Grizzly
And what's the difference between atheist and nonreligious?

There are a lot of people who say "I don't believe in any one religion but I do believe in God". We are deluding ourselves if we think everyone who is nonreligious is an atheist (or even an agnostic.)

Principia · 01-05-2003, 04:07 PM

Quote:

And why on earth is the trend for nonreligious going down in 2025 when the past trends have it rising sharply?

Because my eyes can't see straight...

I've edited the numbers from the right row. The trend should be right now.

Grizzly · 01-05-2003, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by beejay
There are a lot of people who say "I don't believe in any one religion but I do believe in God". We are deluding ourselves if we think everyone who is nonreligious is an atheist (or even an agnostic.)

I see. The nonreligious are just atheists who haven't thought it through yet....

Blinn · 01-05-2003, 05:15 PM

American Religious Identification Survey 2001
Notably in this survey, they had 5 groups in "No Religion": Atheist, Agnostic, Humanist, Secular, and No Religion. I could answer affirmatively for 4 of the 5.

Also of interest: Americans Struggle with Religion's Role at Home and Abroad

Thomas Ash · 01-06-2003, 02:33 AM

Can anyone think of an explanation for why the numbers of atheists worldwide dipped between 1970 (165.4m) and mid-2000 (150.1m)?

Aquila ka Hecate · 01-06-2003, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Can anyone think of an explanation for why the numbers of atheists worldwide dipped between 1970 (165.4m) and mid-2000 (150.1m)?

I'll take a bash at it:

Neopaganism.New Age Movements.Etc.

Grizzly · 01-06-2003, 03:34 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Thomas Ash
Can anyone think of an explanation for why the numbers of atheists worldwide dipped between 1970 (165.4m) and mid-2000 (150.1m)?

What also comes to mind is the breakup of the Soviet Union. I think there was alot of pressure for people to declare themselves atheists under that regime.

Shake · 01-06-2003, 12:55 PM

I ran up percentages of non-religious + atheists against the total numbers and came up with the following:
[list=a][*]1900: 0.57%[*]1970: 36.07%[*]Mid-2000: 31.47%[*]Mid-2002: 31.23%[*]2025: 28.34%[/list=a]
Depressing if true. We can hope that education and increasing scientific knowledge will help reverse that trend. We also need to try to reverse the Catholic Church's stand on birth control.

Of course, the chart you show says nothing about the populations of the world's other religious groups. Islam is supposedly a fast growing religion, while the Jews are losing numbers.

01-05-2003, 10:01 AM	#1
Principia Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: anywhere Posts: 1,976	Atheist population statistics I got these from David B. Barrett's World Christian Encyclopedia: Code: Group (numbers in millions) 1900 1970 mid-2000 mid-2002 2025 Christians (total all kinds) 558.1 1236.3 1999.6 2050.6 2616.7 Nonreligious 3.0 532.1 768.2 780.6 875.1 Atheists 0.2 165.4 150.1 150.8 159.5 Does anyone know of other numbers from reliable sources?

01-06-2003, 02:33 AM	#7
Thomas Ash Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 820	Atheist dip??? Can anyone think of an explanation for why the numbers of atheists worldwide dipped between 1970 (165.4m) and mid-2000 (150.1m)?

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01-05-2003, 03:56 PM	#2
Grizzly Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Tallahassee, Florida Posts: 2,936	And what's the difference between atheist and nonreligious? And why on earth is the trend for nonreligious going down in 2025 when the past trends have it rising sharply? Hmmm....

01-05-2003, 05:15 PM	#6
Blinn Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Ohio, USA Posts: 1,162	American Religious Identification Survey 2001 Notably in this survey, they had 5 groups in "No Religion": Atheist, Agnostic, Humanist, Secular, and No Religion. I could answer affirmatively for 4 of the 5. Also of interest: Americans Struggle with Religion's Role at Home and Abroad

01-06-2003, 12:55 PM	#10
Shake Contributor Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Folding@Home in upstate NY Posts: 14,394	I ran up percentages of non-religious + atheists against the total numbers and came up with the following: [list=a][]1900: 0.57%[]1970: 36.07%[]Mid-2000: 31.47%[]Mid-2002: 31.23%[*]2025: 28.34%[/list=a] Depressing if true. We can hope that education and increasing scientific knowledge will help reverse that trend. We also need to try to reverse the Catholic Church's stand on birth control. Of course, the chart you show says nothing about the populations of the world's other religious groups. Islam is supposedly a fast growing religion, while the Jews are losing numbers.

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