Sociologists are Figuring Out the Atheist vs None Thing

There are lots of views about "nones", those who answer the question "What is your religion?" with, "none." Christian political operatives like to say, "These are people struggling with their faith. They are Christians but will not admit it." I heard a former President of American Atheists say at a convention I attended, "The nones are all ours. If not ours whose are they?"

The percentage of people who identify as nones is growing rapidly. Questionnaire results, however, do not show a large increase in those who self-identify as atheists. Sociologists in the link tried to figure out why atheists polled so much lower than nones.

We have to remember that studying religion is studying the culture and the culture is changing constantly. It always has so we would assume it will in the future as well. Thus, study of peoples' religious beliefs will be changing constantly in the future. 

It turns out far more people say they do not believe there is a God or god than say they are atheists. Why would someone answer the do not believe God exists but not consider themselves atheist? Here we get into more complex thinking. We can start with what we all know to be true, the word "atheist" has a bad image in the U.S. culture. Some questionnaire respondents do not feel threatened by saying they do not believe in a God but do not feel comfortable being called "atheist." A social stigma exists. 

This is similar to what I heard from some women a few years back. It was, "I believe in equal rights and equal pay for women, but I'm not a feminist." Or from both men and women, "The government should regulate the prices of what I buy and should make incomes more equal. I want better streets and roads. But I'm not a socialist." It's no wonder we're often surprised by election results. Understanding what is on people's minds is not easy to figure out. 

It's very common for people to hold two views that to someone else seem opposing. I think this is what we are seeing in abortion rights. There may be a large swath of people who would answer the question, "Is the fetus a human being?" with yes. The same set of people may also believe in abortion rights. Forced Birth operatives have always said those who believed the fetus is a human being would vote against abortion rights. They did not understand the more complex reality.

As right wing Christians and Forced Birth are forced to save what they can from dwindling support, they would do well the study the sociology surrounding both religion, atheism and abortion. They might find some better connection with contemporary society and begin to fit in better.