Yet again, atheists get a good hand for oppression poker

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Atheists are still stigmatized, but things may be changing on that front. From this recent Newsweek poll, via The Carpetbagger Report:
Although one in ten (10 percent) of Americans identify themselves as having "no religion," only six percent said they don’t believe in a God at all. Just 3 percent of the public self-identifies as atheist, suggesting that the term may carry some stigma. Still, the poll suggests that the public’s tolerance of this small minority has increased in recent years. Nearly half (47 percent) of the respondents felt the country is more accepting of atheists today that it used to be and slightly more (49 percent) reported personally knowing an atheist. Those numbers are higher among respondents under 30 years old, 62 percent of whom report knowing an atheist (compared to just 43 percent of those 50 and older). Sixty-one percent of the under-30 cohort view society as more accepting of atheists (compared to 40 percent of the Americans 50 and older).
It would be interesting to talk to those people who don't believe in God at all but also don't self-identify as atheists. Get out of the closet, people! I need more celebrities for Atheist of the Day!

Comments

AutismNewsBeat said…
I'll play Devil's Advocate and say that atheism, whereby one declares unbelief in God, is illogical. The most we can rationally declare is that there is no proof for the existence of a deity. But that is not the same as certainty that there is none. Science cannot prove a negative - it can only find support or non-support for a hypothesis. It is illogical to claim on one hand that the existence of God is unknowable, and then say you know there is no God.
12:59 AM, April 06, 2007
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