A survey from the National Centre for Social Research, just released today, finds that a record number of British people have no religious affiliation at all. 53% of people said they didn’t belong to any organized religion, which is up 5% from just a year ago.
Researchers with the British Social Attitudes survey asked participants, “Do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion?” If they said yes, they were asked which one. That phrasing makes a difference. If researchers had offered a multiple choice list of religions, with “No religion” as an option, it’s possible many people would have responded with the religion of their youth despite no longer practicing it. But when asked up front if they’re religious, it’s much easier to honestly say no.
Since 1983, when this survey began, the number has grown pretty steadily with only a few slight dips in between. And the rise of the Nones is commensurate with the decline of the Church of England.
What is even more exciting is that a full 71% of folks aged 18-24 now identify as non-religious, so the future looks bright indeed.
It is still my firm opinion that religion itself is an outdated and antiquated idea which no longer serves any real purpose except to dumb down the populace and convince them to vote for idiotic things like Donald Trump and Brexit.
My goal is to live long enough to see the majority of the world identify at non-religious before I die.
So what do you think, do I need to live to be a hundred or a hundred and fifty?
Love the Friendly Atheist.
ReplyDeleteOh my dog...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/youre-a-fcking-idiot-infowar-reporter-stunned-after-hes-brutally-mocked-by-young-girl/
HRC!"III“To the extent they had information concerning the fitness, character or qualifications of a presidential candidate, I believed that I should at least hear them out"“Depending on what, if any, information they had, I could then consult with counsel to make an informed decision as to whether to give it further consideration.”
Delete""“As much as some have made of my using the phrase ‘I LOVE IT,’ it was simply a colloquial way of saying that I appreciated Rob’s gesture,”
"He also argued that he was tOO overwhelmed and INexperienced to show better judgement about meeting with a officials from a rival government whose goal was to meddle in the American political process."
“I had never worked on a campaign before and it was an exhausting, all-encompassing, life-changing experience,” he said. “Every single day I fielded dozens, if not hundreds, of emails and phone calls.”
$O $ad.
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/trump-jr-tells-senate-he-wanted-russian-dirt-on-hillary-to-judge-if-she-was-fit-to-be-president/
OT? 50/50 "President Trump needs to be loved so badly that he is often seen and heard not just playing both sides, but managing to tell different audiences completely different stories about his positions."It’s fair to say that Donald Trump didn’t even know what DACA was when he first took action to rescind it, and probably still doesn’t."
ReplyDelete"It’s all about Trump. Always and forever."
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/09/07/trump-win-love-promising-daca-worry-6-months.html
http://www.thedailybeast.com/pelosi-told-trump-to-tweet-dont-worry-dreamers
DeletePelosi needs to step aside...
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/steve-bannon-says-far-right-hates-trumps-daca-decision/
Delete"“TRUST ME, the guys in the far-right, the guys on the conservative side are not happy with this,”
"Trump “said even last night in a tweet—even in a tweet, he would rethink it,” Bannon said, referring to a message Trump sent out late Tuesday.""
"Bannon said Catholic leaders have been "terrible" and need to “come to grips with the problems in the church” and that they “they need illegal aliens to fill the churches.”
“They have an economic interest in unlimited immigration,”"
{It's all fake news but}>
"Bannon said that his image in the media is “pretty accurate” and that he’s a “street fighter.”
“I’m going to be [Trump’s] WINgman on the outside for the entire time,” WTF?
"rump’s inauguration committee has MILLION$ of dollars on hand that it did not spend on ceremonies in January""nearly doubling the total raised by former President Barack Obama for his first inauguration."
ReplyDelete" he PLEDGED to personally donate $1 million to the Harvey relief effort this week."
"“The WONDERFUL VICTIMS of Hurricane Harvey in Houston would be a great start,” said Lloyd Claycomb, a $100,000 donor and a member of both the president’s inaugural and transition finance committees."
http://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-just-gave-to-harvey-relief-but-theres-a-bigger-pot-of-money-he-has-yet-to-spend
The rate of change is probably exponential; within 20 years it should be at least 75%. People are becoming more and more comfortable with identifying with a Universal Force rather than ignorant peasants believing in an avenging god.
ReplyDeleteO CANADA!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/canada-takes-in-lgbt-russians-fleeing-gay-purge-in-chechnya/
As good as this news is, let's remember that not identifying with any religion is not the same as being an atheist. I've been an atheist for over 40 years; I do not believe in any god. Many people who do not identify with a religion, still believe in a god, or at least some supernatural being.
ReplyDeleteI know a number of folks right here in my state that are not God fearing, don't attend church and are not religious. Think there are many more throughout our country that do not disclose their true feelings.
ReplyDeleteyeah. not happening.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_of_religion
"According to The Statesman Anne Elizabeth Wynn claims "The two most recent American Religious Identification Surveys declare Wicca, one form of paganism, as the fastest growing spiritual identification in America".[267][268] Mary Jones claims Wicca is one of the fastest-growing religions in the United States as well.[269] Wicca, which is largely a "Pagan" religion primarily attracts followers of nature-based religions in, as an example, the Southeast Valley region of the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area."
Delete"By 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion.[71] Christians have 2.7 children per woman, which is above replacement level"
10B!
https://qz.com/1016790/more-than-half-of-the-worlds-population-growth-will-be-in-africa-by-2050/
https://www.thenation.com/article/why-mike-pence-is-worse-than-donald-trump/
ReplyDelete666"In every way, he knows better, but he says and does things that are equally awful and offensive."
"would the low-charisma Pence, who looks like a B-movie producer’s idea of a president, be easier to defeat, especially given the GOP fratricide that would commence with Trump’s departure, however it came about?"
"But I never let that obscure the truth, either: Pence is a far worse person, because of his creepy> 'Handmaid’s Tale' patriarchal approach to women’s equality."
"when I walked, back in 2010, across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with John Lewis, arm in arm, and we remembered Bloody Sunday, I can’t help but think that rather than pulling down monuments, as some are wont to do, rather than tearing down monuments that have graced our cities all across this country for years, we ought to be building more monuments." "What does that even mean?" {50/50?}
" I think he spewed Word Salad à la Sarah Palin, only with better grammar. I don’t think he gives a damn about the folks who protest these shameful statues. What was most galling about Pence’s comment, though, was that he used his bond with Lewis to clean up Trump’s despicable equation of Nazis and white supremacists with their opponents,"the GOP has played on racial fear and resentment for 50-plus years—all the way back to Selma. That’s why we have Trump, and Trump is why we have neo-Nazis and white supremacists trying to march through our streets. “Trying” is the operative word"
"how many are tired of Mike Pence gaslighting the country, just flat out lying about what Trump says?"Pence doesn’t care, though. He plays to an audience of one, and that one is Donald Trump." let’s hope that the mainstream media, congressional Democrats, and anti-Trump Republicans remember what a stooge he was for an incompetent, belligerent, popular-vote-losing president. If they do, we’ll never have to worry about Mr. B-movie president ever being elected to be the REAL thing." OR will we see
'END TIMES' for real?
OT yet relevant to religious view previously hurricanes are because of sin. The following article is translated from French.
ReplyDeleteRemarks about Trump if Maralago is hit by Irma or it might take Trump Tower or the White House flooded is spot on. Narcissits do not care about a catastrophic event unless they are in danger nor even if their offspring might be a target of the DC shooter. If it is them directly under threat than they only care.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/mother-nature-is-striking-back-against-trumps-ignorance?via=twitter_page
They are due to sin. The sin of having voted for Donald Trump.
DeleteNote which states are right in the hurricanes' path....
4:06, I sincerely hope that last sentence was a snark, because otherwise that's as dumb as what Hamm said!
DeleteI am an atheist of long standing.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine a world where most people didn't believe in ancient mythology, 2000 year old tribal tales, and superstition from the Bronze age
I will go further than Gryphen, and state unequivocally that RELIGION is and will continue to be, the single most destructive force in human society EVER.
As to when a majority of the people on our planet become atheists, I have to say probably never.
Maybe in 200 years, we might have a majority here in the USA, but there a 1.9 or more Muslims in this world!
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/09/muslims-and-islam-key-findings-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world/
There are 1.1 BILLION Hindus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_by_country
And 2.3 Billion Christians
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/05/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe/
Religion and religion based belief systems are so ingrained in culture, government, schools, literature, and media that it's staggering.
I don't believe that humans will ever be completely liberated from illogical and destructive results of religion.
Perhaps countries like Sweden and Norway will eventually have a majority of atheists, but even that seems unlikely.
I'd love to hear a more positive and optimistic viewpoint, but the prevalence of religion among humans seems almost endemic
Man is fearful: built into his DNA -- self-preservation. That he needs a "power" bigger than himself and belief in "help" will never go away for most humans.
DeleteIt takes grit and self-awareness and logic and curiosity about another way of thinking...good luck finding that is most humans.