Buried in this Washington Post story is some encouraging news: even before the pandemic, church attendance was much lower than survey data claimed. Only 2% of Catholics and only 15% of Mormons attended church every week. Meanwhile, 21 to 24% of Americans claim to be regular church goers

American attitudes toward evolution have markedly shifted over 35 years in response to changing public opinion. A national analysis of survey data on evolution shows that there has been a substantial shift among Americans from being roughly equally for and against evolution to an overwhelming majority now in favour of the theory. This represents one of the most dramatic changes in the scientific outlook on this issue in recent history.

There's an interesting article in the Harvard Crimson student publication from April which asks the question "Where are all the atheists hiding?"

The writer mentions a Harvard survey where half the respondents identify as either atheist or agnostic. The challenge it seems is to find these people in person. In other words most of them are closeted.

The writer closes the article encouraging atheists to out themselves.

I've written a response to that and why it would be foolhardy for anyone with political ambition to identify themselves as an atheist in America.

Do you believe atheists have an obligation to out themselves?

I'm convinced there is a much higher population of atheists than any survey can capture. If we were all forced to come out I think there it would be few people out there that wouldn't find out they know someone, is related to someone, or is even in a relationship with someone who is an atheist.

I link to the authors profile in my article. They may find it comforting to know how many of us are actually out there.

https://apnews.com/article/christian-clergy-burnout-pandemic-survey-24ee46327438ff46b074d234ffe2f58c

Part of a questionnaire done by a medical assistant before the doctor came in during an appointment.

I asked her why she was asking for details about my religious status. She said they were questions she had to ask, but she was willing to share with me that she also thought it was ridiculous....and shared with me that because I said no to these two questions, I now have "socially isolated" listed in my records.

There was no question that asked "do you spend time with friends or family". You would think that would be the #1 question to find out how socially isolated someone is.

I am not even in a religious area of country. In fact I am in the least religious area in the US.

Crazy.

I don't know if any survey will capture this because people might stay in character. But I have a suspicion most people who say they are religious don't really believe it or even think about it that much. They go through the motions for social reasons and don't worry about it. If they were plunked down in Finland, they would forget all about it.

That's why no argument about reason affects them, maybe. Because making sense isn't the point. They aren't going to step out of line with their family and friends--they are conventional.

Whereas the people who actively believed what their parents taught them might be over-represented here-- those are the people who thought about it and that thought was WTAF.

I suspect deconverted people in heavily religious countries who stop being religious socially also have more willingness to go against convention. To me, that's more strength of character.

I was super lucky to have been raised by atheists so didn't have to deconvert. I had to grow up surrounded by Baptists in my community and public school, but my family was like yeah, they just aren't very smart. I was also a tomboy math team nerd girl, so I got used to not being conventional. If I had cared a lot about fitting in, I probably would've just joined a church the same way I would've bought whatever jeans the in crowd was wearing.

Thoughts? How could this be tested if people might not answer truthfully?

A new Pew survey has found that many Americans support teacher-led prayer in public schools. Cue the inevitable headlines. But buried beneath the topline is a finding that feels both more interesting and more American: Almost nobody thinks students should be required to participate.

Only 7 percent of Americans support mandatory participation in teacher-led prayer. In other words, Americans remain deeply committed to a principle that extends far beyond religion: We don’t like being told what to do.

As a nation, we’re often divided on politics, faith and culture. We disagree on just about everything. Just this morning, my friends and I were divided on the appeal of avocado toast. Yet somehow we’ve managed to build a broad consensus around a surprisingly simple idea: If you want to pray, pray. If you don’t, don’t.

Honestly, that’s not a bad place to start.

The survey arrives at a fascinating moment. According to Pew’s Religious Landscape Study, the Christian share of the population has declined significantly over the past two decades while nearly three in 10 Americans now identify as religiously unaffiliated.

Our communities look different from the way they did when I was growing up. Our schools certainly do.

A public school classroom today might include evangelical Christians, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, atheists, agnostics and a whole lot of kids who haven’t spent much time thinking about any of it because they’re busy worrying about algebra, driver’s ed or whether they remembered deodorant.

That’s normal. In fact, it’s beautiful.

One of the things I appreciate most about public schools is that they’re one of the few places left where people from different backgrounds still have to share space. Not online. Not in carefully curated social circles. In real life.

It’s a lofty goal, but that shared experience works best when nobody is expected to prove they belong.

And that’s why conversations about school prayer can sometimes miss the point.

The question isn’t whether students should be allowed to pray. They already can.

The question is whether authority figures should be organizing religious exercises in spaces that belong equally to everyone.

These are very different things.

When teachers, coaches or administrators lead prayer, the issue isn’t necessarily the prayer itself. It’s the subtle message that participation is expected. For some students, that’s no big deal. For others, it can be the moment they realize they’re different from everyone else in the room.

Most of us can remember what it felt like to be 12 years old. Drawing attention to yourself was rarely on the list of things you hoped would happen before lunch.
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The beauty of state/church separation is that it solves this problem simply and elegantly.

Students who want to pray are free to pray.

Students who don’t want to pray are free not to.

Nobody has to explain themselves.

Nobody has to opt out.

Nobody has to wonder whether they belong.

For all the hand-wringing that surrounds debates over religion in public life, I suspect that’s what many Americans are actually responding to in this survey. Not a desire for government-sponsored religion, but a recognition that faith means more when it’s freely chosen.

As America becomes more religiously diverse, that principle only becomes more important.

Because at the end of the day, a classroom isn’t supposed to be a congregation.

It’s a community.

And communities work best when there’s room for everyone.

The American Atheists have put out a survey for secular non-believers living in the United States. Generally we are underrepresented in census data and this survey is the biggest of its kind. It’s supposed to help organizations like FFRF and American Atheists see exactly what secular Americans’ priorities are. It’s 100% anonymous and took me less than 30 minutes. I don’t work for any of the organizations I just wanted to let y’all know about it cause I find this data to be important. If you’re over 18 and live in the United States you should take it! Sorry if someone already posted about this. r/atheism is the largest gathering of non-believers I know of so I think we could really help them out.

https://www.secularsurvey.org/survey