https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/way-more-americans-may-be-atheists-than-we-thought/
That’s interesting. In spite of the Protestant idea that everyone discovers their own religion, it usually passes down through families, and so religion usually has an ethnicity component. Denying religion can mean, in part, denying your ancestry.
I know lots of people who don’t believe in God. But, if asked, what religion are they? Catholic. Jewish. Southern Baptist. One’s even a minister. Because, to them, religion is more than just a belief in God. It’s an identity, it’s a community. And it’s a set of values and beliefs that are perhaps surprisingly unrelated to the existence of any deity. They see no reason to abandon all that just because they don’t believe in God. And, if they did, which community would they be trading their friends and family for? Dawkins? Yeah, thanks but no thanks.
I can see why the phrasing and format of the questionnaire could lead to wildly different conclusions.
I am curious what the atheist perception is regarding bigoted treatment. I mean, sure, there may be sociological structural difficulties, but actual, in-person bigotry…I just don’t see it being like racism, particularly among African-Americans, where racism has not only been institutionalized, but also was blatant and in your face.
I truly appreciate your disdain for Dawkins, because to me he represents the exact opposite problem: anti-religious bigotry and snobbery. I can only imagine atheism growing in our nation and the world, and when it supersedes adherents in numbers, I believe that the bigotry from that side will become a bigger problem. It’s simply the fact that atheism is a minority at present that the Richard Dawkinses and Bill Nyes of the world are allowed to act as they do without repercussion. I appreciate that there are many respectful atheists/agnostics, such as yourself, who do not see a need to be holier (what’s the atheist eqivalent–skepticaler?)-than-thou while maintaining their stance.
While there is an appeal of religion to the under-educated and an appeal of atheism to the educated, there are really many very intelligent people who still believe in God (and many uneducated atheists as well).