Religiosity down, atheism up, according to poll

Published: Wednesday, Aug. 15 2012 11:00 a.m. MDT

Religiosity is on the decline in the U.S. and atheism is on the rise, according to a new worldwide poll.

Summary

Our take: The number of Americans who say they are atheists has risen since 2005, according to a recent study conducted by Gallup International.

Our take: The number of Americans who say they are atheists has risen since 2005, according to a recent study conducted by Gallup International. This article from the Washington Post looks at potential reasons for this reported increase and also raises a red flag about the accuracy of the data.

Religiosity is on the decline in the U.S. and atheism is on the rise, according to a new worldwide poll.

The poll, called The Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism, found that the number of Americans who say they are religious dropped from 73 percent in 2005 (the last time the poll was conducted) to 60 percent.

At the same time, the number of Americans who say they are atheists rose, from 1 percent to 5 percent.

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RanchHand

Huntsville, UT

@Brave Sir Robin;

"The vast majority of politicians (on both sides of the aisle) are corrupt, greedy, dishonest jokers whose only aspiration is to stay in power."

You think religion will change that? Not likely - most More..

11:55 a.m. Aug. 15, 2012
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atl134

Salt Lake City, UT

@Brave Sir Robin
That's quite an insulting assertion you made, suggesting that non-religious = immoral. You know the three states with the highest percentage of atheists (New Hampshire Vermont and Maine) are also the three states with the More..

12:18 p.m. Aug. 15, 2012
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Tolstoy

salt lake, UT

@brave sir robin
The vast majority of those politicians you are against proclaim a deep faith in religion so yes I think we need less Christian values in office.

5:26 p.m. Aug. 15, 2012
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