How Many Atheists Are There in Your State

Polls and surveys seem like a growth industry. There is more news about them each year. I get calls regularly wanting me to answer polling questions. I mostly hang up because they often turn into campaign calls. I have done surveys myself and know some about random sampling. How, I have wondered, do researchers today get random samples when people do not pick up calls or, like me, do not answer?

Every month a new poll is published saying there is an increase in the number of "Nones", those who claim no particular religious affiliation. There is a category called "agnostic" which usually means one thinks there is an invisible being of some kind but does not claim it is one or some other. I don't understand the difference between a None and an agnostic. 

A further question is whether an agnostic thinks there is evidence of some unknown being or whether there is none but simply "believes" there is such a supernatural being. The atheist, if I dare speak for atheists, would say there is no evidence of any supernatural being. He/she concludes from that observation there is no such being. Is this admitting that if there were evidence the person would switch from being an atheist to being an agnostic or a religious person? 

A former President of American Atheists said, "We claim all of them, nones, agnostics and atheists." That makes sense if we are looking at what matters. What matters is how religious or secular ideas affect other people. How do the ideas held by some influence the lives of others in our country and across the entire world?

For example, if the difference between nones and agnostics affected me, it would be important to me. It does not affect me. Nor, does is affect anyone else other than those two groups. Add in to the mix the difference between atheists and the other two and nothing changes. All three of these groups are wary of or oppose generally the government imposing one religious belief on the country. I would guess nearly all of the three support gay rights and abortion rights. It doesn't matter that there are hair splitting differences among the three. The differences do not matter because they all have similar views on human rights. 

In your state, whatever it is, the three horsemen nones, agnostics and atheists are approaching 50% of the voters. All three of these groups have good voter turnout. Christians can claim they are "the majority," but they are losing in gay rights and abortion rights. The three horsemen and some liberal Christians are the majority.