The US is increasingly portrayed as a hotbed of religious fervor. Yet in the homeland of ostentatiously religious politicians such as Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, agnostics and atheists are actually part of one of the fastest-growing demographics in the US: the godless. Far from being in thrall to its religious leaders, the US is in fact becoming a more secular country, some experts say. "It has never been better to be a free-thinker or an agnostic in America," says Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF).In many ways, these statistical findings help to explain the loudness and brashness of the religious right these days. They know that they are losing ground and so they are fighting tooth-and-nail to hold on to some of their turf.
The exact number of faithless is unclear. One study by the Pew Research Center puts them at about 12% of the population, but another by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture at Trinity College in Hartford puts that figure at around 20%.
Most experts agree that the number of secular Americans has probably doubled in the past three decades – growing especially fast among the young. It is thought to be the fastest-growing major "religious" demographic in the country.
~ from Rising Atheism in America Puts 'Religious Right on the Defensive' by Paul Harris ~
But they ARE losing ground. As the post from earlier this morning shows, 80 percent of evangelical young people are engaging in pre-marital sex. For the leaders of the evangelical movement, that is a damning figure. If you can't get the youth from your own movement to follow your dictates, what chances do you have of getting anyone else to take you seriously?
I'm certainly NOT suggesting that the right-wing crazies soon will go away gently into the night. I think we're still a generation or two away from the point in which they won't find as much traction in the public sphere. But their current frenetic activity is a sign that they KNOW the end -- not of the world, but their preeminence as a media darling -- is near.
Good riddance, I say.
I really hope you're right!
ReplyDeleteThe other statistics aside, I'm not sure that just because evangelical teens are just as horny as other teens, that it's evidence they're losing ground.
ReplyDeleteThe article doesn't seem to differentiate between those who are Atheist/Agnostic and those who are Irreligious. They are two different things. Atheists/Agnostics don't believe in and/or accept the existence of a deity, people who are Irreligious are indifferent towards religion. A growing number of Americans may not necessarily be atheist, but just don't see religion as important.
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