Pew Poll: Younger Americans Are More and More Secular than Their Elders

[BurtWorm]

According to Brian Flemming:

http://www.slumdance.com/blogs/brian_flemming/archives/002556.html


Imagine no religion

That's where the trend lines are headed, according to the Pew Research Center:



It doesn't appear that younger people tend to acquire superstition as they age, either. Gen Y is the most religion-free generation in the survey, but the trend has gone from 8% secular to 12% secular overall, as greater numbers of reasonable young people show up and retain their reason as they age.

And that Gen Y 19% represents those who were willing to say that they have no religion. Imagine how many others who were polled do not really believe in a Sky Daddy, but out of the fear that is the hallmark of monotheism, they shrugged and wagered on the brighter side of that theoretical .0000000000000000001% chance, and said to the pollster something like, Well, I guess I'm a Lutheran, because my parents were. And then proceeded to go on with their lives as if there is no god (not praying, not going to church, not even thinking about a god of any kind), because they don't really possess a strong conviction that there is one.

As atheists get more vocal and visible, we're going to win over a lot more of those Pascal-intimidated fence sitters, who will choose to take that tiny risk of an eternal Hell in the next life in exchange for not suffering the embarrassment of being thought superstitious in this one.

The survey PDF.

[BuyingThyme]

1. Secularism has nothing to do with whether or not one is religious.

[NMMNG]

15. No it doesn't

And it becomes problematic when people, particularly the RR, use "secular" and "atheist" or "non-religious" interchangeably. They are completely different.

[Double T]

2. Do YOU blame them?

Religion is largely the root cause of a lot of evil.

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

[BurtWorm]

4. I take it as a good sign.

A thaw seems to be underway.

[Forkboy]

3. YAY!

:applause:

[Donnachaidh]

5. that's TODAY

The later *converts* (can you say George W. Bush) are the ones that really do the damage. And I'll bet a lot of them considered themselves *secular* at that age.

Let's see the same people checked in a decade.

[LondonReign2]

6. That was my initial thought too

But notice that the prior generations didn't become more regilious as they aged.

[Donnachaidh]

9. I honestly believe these people who *find* religion

ESPECIALLY the wealthy ones - are scared to death of what will happen to them after they die. I don't think it has anything to *do* with finding God. It's all about saving their asses.

[BurtWorm]

10. Bush's clique is, fortunately, a very tiny clique.

About 1% of the population. Unfortunately, they're also inordinately powerful.

[Donnachaidh]

11. Dunno -- I've got alot of those *born-agains* around here

Big Cars, Bigger Houses, etc.

They seem to spend more time trying to outdo and out-shop each other than anyone else. I don't think it's just that upper 1%.

[BurtWorm]

12. Those may be the same people who are borrowing at the subprime rate.

Could be, anyway. :shrug:

[Donnachaidh]

13. yeah, it could be -- OR

They took their ill-gotten gains and sunk the money into that McMansion everyone *must* have.

[NMMNG]

7. I lost my religion in my late twenties

So I doubt I'd be counted as "young". Technically I fall on the outer edge of Generation X.

[gaspee]

8. It's about time

The cognitive disconnect it actually takes to be a true believer fundy does not fit in the modern world. Spirituality, sure, no problem... fundamentalism? Mental illness.

[MedleyMisty]

14. By this table, I'm Gen Y

Born in December of 1980.

I grew up in Mount Airy, the town that Mayberry was based on.

The conclusions seem about right to me. In school, the really religious people were always sort of misfits. I mean, yeah, a few people went to church with their parents and were even in the youth group, but not that many people really believed in it. I can honestly remember maybe one person at the most who could be called a fundie, and because he was a reject I felt sorry for him and talked to him and helped him with his algebra homework. I think he was mentally disabled in some way.