Is anyone else an atheist with BC besides me?

Traveltext

Reporting from Australia.

2016 Census data reveals "no religion" is rising fast

The results of the latest national Census today reveal we're a religiously diverse nation, with Christianity remaining the most common religion (52 per cent of the population).

Islam (2.6 per cent) and Buddhism (2.4 per cent) were the next most common religions reported. Nearly a third of Australians (30 per cent) reported in the Census that they had no religion in 2016.

The religious makeup of Australia has changed gradually over the past 50 years. In 1966, Christianity (88 per cent) was the main religion. By 1991, this figure had fallen to 74 per cent, and further to the 2016 figure. Catholicism is the largest Christian grouping in Australia, accounting for almost a quarter (22.6 per cent) of the Australian population.

Australia is increasingly a story of religious diversity, with Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, and Buddhism all increasingly common religious beliefs. Hinduism had the most significant growth between 2006 and 2016, driven by immigration from South Asia.

The growing percentage of Australia's population reporting no religion has been a trend for decades, and is accelerating. Those reporting no religion increased noticeably from 19 per cent in 2006 to 30 per cent in 2016. The largest change was between 2011 (22 per cent) and 2016, when an additional 2.2 million people reported having no religion.

How likely a person was to identify as religious in 2016 had a lot to do with their age. Young adults aged 18-34 were more likely to be affiliated with religions other than Christianity (12 per cent) and to report not having a religion (39 per cent) than other adult age groups. Older age groups, particularly those aged 65 years and over, were more likely to report Christianity

SoCalLisa

Minus two..it would be fun to meet..

keep plugging away on the bucket list..I finished mine so I have to start a new one..

Wren, of course you fit it!

SoCalLisa

Ananda, interesting chart..I had no idea that evangelical protestants were double the traditional protestants..wow..

solfeo

More atheists (2%)than Jews or Muslims here (<1% ea.). A full 26% are unaffiliated. 25% evangelical Christian (largest religious group, and almost equal to the national number), which explains why there is so much squawking that goes on when a clearly deep blue state tries to pass progressive laws. Based on behavior and acceptance of the majority, we should have been the first state to legalize recreational marijuana, but evangelical Protestants are over-represented in the state legislature, which only includes 5 declared R's. Many of them run as D's because that is the only way to get elected here, but that's not really what they are.

Interesting, thanks for the info!

ananda8

Here is an interesting article on faith and no faith.  " There have long been predictions that religion would fade from relevancy as the world modernizes, but all the recent surveys are finding that it’s happening startlingly fast. France will have a majority secular population soon. So will the Netherlands and New Zealand. The United Kingdom and Australia will soon lose Christian majorities. Religion is rapidly becoming less important than it’s ever been, even to people who live in countries where faith has affected everything from rulers to borders to architecture."  https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160422-atheism-agnostic-secular-nones-rising-religion/

Traveltext

Thanks for posting the link ananda.

Some interesting statements from the article include:
The secularizing West is full of white men. The general U.S. population is 46 percent male and 66 percent white, but about 68 percent of atheists are men, and 78 percent are white.

Around the world, the Pew Research Center finds that women tend to be more likely to affiliate with a religion and more likely to pray and find religion important in their lives.

Some of the humanist movement's most visible figures aren't known for their respect toward women.

ananda8

Traveltext,  I agree that misogyny among atheist males is a problem.  I think the biggest factor in fewer atheists among people of color and white women has to do with lack of power and security.  The poor have always been more religious than the rich and upper classes. Religion gives those without power and security a sense of safety.  The Me-Too movement and the Women's March is going to have some long term consequences in the world and in the male dominated religions.

solfeo

We could shorten that to misogyny among males is a problem (not you Traveltext!). It's the men who are outnumbered around here, for obvious reasons, and I may have never met another declared female atheist in my lifetime if not for the BC connection. I don't know any IRL to my knowledge, but the conversation would never take place because there is no need for non-believers to go around talking about what they don't believe in. If the subject of my atheism ever does come up it's always with someone who is talking about their religion or someone else's, and asking questions about mine.

I'm not really a group person so I would never seek out any social function for atheists anyway, but do we even gather as a group since we don't go to church? The line that made me laugh from the article was this one: "Organizing atheists is like herding cats." We apparently don't feel the need to congregate with no shared delusions to unite us.

ananda8

I love reading the Pew Religious Landscape Study.  Here is the section on atheist women.  What I find absolutely hilarious is 5% of women who claim to be atheist believe or somewhat believe in god.  http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/gender-composition/women/religious-family/atheist/

Here is a section called 10 facts about atheists.  http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/01/10-facts-about-atheists/

Here is a graph of change in religious nones.

QueenElizabethTheFaux

This is a great thread...just found it. It’s fascinating & I look forward to reading the entire thing. Ok, there was one time in my life (for appx 2 years) when I desperately tried to be an atheist.

Some bad things had happened in my life that made me SO angry & I absolutely hated God. I screamed at him & told him that if he was standing next to me, I would kill him...& I meant it.

There was NO way I was ever going to believe in him, or trust in him, ever again.

A few months later, I noticed some odd things began to happen to me & towards my deep anger and hate of “God.” (Good things. But they are too odd to explain...other than to say that my comprehension of what “God” actually “is” changed completely.) I then began to understand why Atheists, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Scientologists, Agnostics, Muslims, etc. are here. I fully believe the people affiliated w/each one exists for very important reasons.

Now, I am no longer angry & filled with hatred towards a creator called God. I’m also a former Catholic who no longer believes in the teachings of the Catholic Church...or any other religion.

If you asked me, “Then what are you?” I’d have to answer, “I am a Child of this amazing place that we call The Universe.”

I know nothing. But that is good Bcuz it appears to be driving m towards a life-long quest to learn everything, which will not be possible...but certainly makes life interesting. (Most especially I am one who has kind regards for who YOU are & have deep respect for your individual religious &/or non-religious belief systems.)

Much love,

QueenElizabethTheFaux

SoCalLisa

when I was a little girl, I thought if I studied long and hard enough, I could learn everything. I thought my father had because he could always answer everyone's questions. ( before Goggle and the internet). Of course, when I was older I realized the more you know, the more you don't know.

But as you say, it makes it more interesting

❤

Traveltext

solfeo, we don't need herding, but that's a good description should the need arise. The atheists I know are a pretty self-sufficient lot of people and we meet all over the place, films, dinners, parties, local community groups, etc. I couldn't imagine having to go and be indoctrinated in a church with people I cared about. Funerals excepted. This and weddings seem to be what gets me inside a church. Fortunately, the weddings and funerals I've been to in recent times have been secular events without religious gurus officiating. This said, I have nothing against anyone who adheres to a faith of any kind unless they are fanatics. These I have an aversion to.

Trishyla

Amen, brother!!

Sorry, traveltxt. Couldn't resist. Religious fanatics are my pet peeve as well.

solfeo

When I enter a church my head spins and pea soup spews forth. What could that possibly mean?

(just kidding)

Spookiesmom

at least the roof doesn’t come crashing down on your head🤪😜.

solfeo

It was a fanatical family member who ultimately led me to atheism. I was never a true believer, even as a kid, because it never made sense to me. I was a natural agnostic, then I sort of went back and forth over the fence through the years depending on how I was handling whatever was going on in my life at the time on my own.

In my late 20s a close family member became a Jehovah's Witness, and then proceeded to break my heart on a regular basis for a decade, with a series of thoughtless acts, gleefully perpetrated in the name of Jehovah. They are not allowed to do a lot of critical thinking - just what they are told - regardless of the consequences to others. It's not supposed to make sense.

I had never seen anything so profoundly wrong in my life, and I decided I needed to get her out of what I perceived as a cult. All religion is cultish IMO but the JWs are on a special level all their own. I thought the best way to go about changing her mind would be to study all of the world religions and figure out which one was the right one, and then present my case. She was a smart person, how could she not get it if I laid out the facts? I won't lie - I was also hoping to deal with my own fence-sitting in a definitive way for once and for all.

Long story short I eventually came to the conclusion that it's all a load of BS. A giant, smelly pile of crap of epic proportions, due to the vast number of humans who have stepped into it, and then use it to justify all kinds of atrocities because they think their sh*t stinks less than their neighbor's. All because life is just too scary without magic, they have created the hell they fear right here on earth, and all in the name of whatever they call their god. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy. And no, I'm not mincing words, because this is our place to tell it like it is.

I was never able to convince my family member, because any evidence to the contrary to her indoctrination was seen as an attempt by Satan to lead her away from "the truth." Yeah, that's not cult-like at all.

Wren44

I took a philosophy of religion class in college. The final was: "There is/is not a God. Explain". That was a fun test and I ended up arguing both sides.

I think religion never really 'took' with me because when my mother died when I was 4, they told me God wanted her. So when they tried to say God loves you, my inner response was - he sure has a funny way of showing it.

Then moving to the Northwest, I became one of the people who felt much more spiritual backpacking in the mountains than anywhere else. I fit right in here.

ananda8

Wren44, I think Epicurus Explained the "There is/is not a God." 2300 years ago.  

ananda8

Spookiesmom

RIP Mr Hawking.

SoCalLisa

He was an amazing man

SoCalLisa

need a soft landing after this past week festivities

moth

celebrating spring & chocolates weekend is finally over :P

Trishyla

My husband, the ex-Catholic, prefers to call it Zombie Jesus day.

Egads007

Spookiesmom, Mr. Hawking is the reason I am atheist today. During chemo I was given a few Hawking documentaries to watch while doing the daily couch crash. This lead to my fascination with all things science but especially the cosmos. I vaguely believed in god at that time but felt I had received a clearer vision on why things are the way they are. While I still am spiritual from a human to human standpoint, science now rules my beliefs. Indeed RIP Mr. Hawking.

ananda8

This has been posted before and I still find it comforting and very true.  We are the universe as much as the stars are. 

UnwillingParticipant

I have been an atheist most of my adult life. It solidified for me when I learned that the bible was written by men chosen by Constantine in order to unite his subjects under one god. Read some things on religious symbols sometime - their origin and meaning. Crosses were around for millions of years before Jesus was. Constantine and his writers used old symbols to create new meanings; the symbol for the sun, or sun god, became the halo. If one reads real history, not religious history, it is clear where religion came from. It's adherents are tearing nations apart today and causing the formation of cults like ISIS and more. Religion for many is about achieving power over others. If I believed in a god, I'd have to hate such an entity for its cruelty. At 75, I feel free to enjoy things without having to thank anybody. I believe in law, our Constitution, good manners and helping others. I lived a lifetime of service to others through my nursing career. We must treat each other with respect and dignity, and help those less fortunate, but not because some deity says so. Its because it is simply the right thing to do. I neither need nor want the oppressive anchor of religion and I really hate it when people say they pray for me when it is something I'd never ask for and which deeply offends me. I am finally telling people how I feel about their praying for me now, and asking them not to. I've had to get tough with aggressively-religious relatives and threaten to end my relationship with one. That isn't pleasant or comfortable, but then, I am not the aggressor. Indeed, I've been too passive in allowing them to preach to me. No more.

Cancer changed me enough to "come out" of hiding from the religious. I'm grateful to my doctors and especially my sister nurses, and that's where gratitude belongs; not with some deity. Spontaneous change occurs in anyone's health status - whether good or bad - and if a spontaneous change for the good occurs, it is sometimes called a "miracle" - an act of "god". Spontaneous change that is bad is not seen as an act of god, so why should a good change be? I could go on, but you get the picture. Courage - don't let the religious zealots grind you down.

StellaStarr

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I so agree! I am a voracious reader. I question and fact check just about everything. My breast cancer Journey, almost 10 years, solidified my atheism. You are so right. If people would just research the roots of religion in general and Christianity specifically, they would be truly enlightened. Nothing is as they believe it is.

Pleased to me you, Unwilling Participant.

Love that name!

solfeo

I posted this on the Stupid Comments thread, but thought y'all might appreciate it more. It got no response over there, and I wondered if it was because it made people uncomfortable that I wasn't thanking God for my cancer, and the positive changes in my life since the diagnosis. I guess I don't really care much anymore, because this kind of thing deeply offends ME. No, I don't think God found me special enough to save me, but let someone else die of their cancer because I was more deserving of an improved life. That kind of thinking is the epitome of offensive IMO.

-----------------------------------

My sister complimented me on all I have accomplished in my life in the last few years. I lost a ton of weight and got back into good physical condition. We are expanding our business and working toward our retirement plan. I got therapy and finally dealt with a few lifelong psychological gremlins. The future looks bright. I told her cancer was the major motivating factor, but of course I meant that in the most practical way.

She said to me, "just maybe there was a higher power stepping in creating obstacles so you'd be forced to make choices to better your life in many ways." Sorry, I'll never believe God gave me cancer to light a fire under my ass. I recognized the need for improvements and I worked hard to accomplish everything I have and make lemonade out of lemons, and I'm taking all the credit.

ananda8

Unwilling, You bring up some great points.  When people offer to pray for me, I tell them to read Matthew 6: 5-6  If they were really serious about praying for me, they would not need to tell me about it.  By telling me, they make it about them.