Nearly every religious group in America has lost members, but the number of atheists has increased in the last 20 years from 8 to 15 percent of the population (source):
So many Americans claim no religion at all (15%, up from 8% in 1990), that this category now outranks every other major U.S. religious group except Catholics and Baptists. In a nation that has long been mostly Christian, "the challenge to Christianity … does not come from other religions but from a rejection of all forms of organized religion," the report concludes.
Personally, I’m not sure the increase is due exclusively to an increase in the number of atheists. I think the increase can be attributed, in part, to it being a bit easier to identify as an atheist now than in the past.
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Clearly, this IS welcome news, but we have to be careful to avoid assuming that 15% of the population is atheist. The number of people claiming “None” or “No religion” actually includes atheists, agnostics, humanists, secularist, and perhaps some who could be defined as Deists, as well as those who have a general belief in a Supreme Being, but they adhere to no organized religion or any particular philosophic persuasion.
But even this doesn’t diminish the overall trend away from organized religions, so it’s all good in the end.
Just imagine what we could do if we ever figured out how to use our numbers effectively!
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