A few days ago Ross Douthat started a blog-conversation about the rise of secularists as a conscious cultural movement or tribe, and of course there's been plenty of talk about the new atheism. So I thought it was interesting that fundamentalist Christian pollster George Barna has a new survey out titled Atheists and Agnostics Take Aim at Christians. Barna finds that:
- 20 million Americans are of "no faith," that is, they are atheists, agnostics or avow their nonaffiliation with a religion
- Of those 20 million 5 million accept the label "atheist."
- Those with no faith tend to be youger, more male and college eduated
- Those with no faith tend to give less to charity and volunteer less
- The proportion of those with no faith increases from 6% for ages 61+ to 19% for the 18-22 range. Comparing to results from 15 years ago there seems little change, suggesting that this isn't just a matter of the young being less attached to religion as a phase.
My main quibble is that Barna, not being a social scientist, didn't bother controlling for variables. Some of the trends that he found for those with no faith might simply be due to the disproportionate representation of young college educated males in this group.
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Did he also consider volunteering at someones church as a variable in his poll. I don't have the oppurtnity to volunteer at an atheist church cause there is none. However I have done volunteer work at my university.
Did he also consider volunteering at someones church as a variable in his poll.
the survey is really short, if you have questions you should check it out. in any case:
They are less likely than active-faith Americans to be registered to vote (78% versus 89%), to volunteer to help a non-church-related non-profit (20% versus 30%), to describe themselves as "active in the community" (41% versus 68%), and to personally help or serve a homeless or poor person (41% versus 61%).
now, a lot of charitable work is church related. but, my own experience is that a lot of atheists don't have a problem volunteering at a catholic soup kitchen or something like that. yes, there is some implicit pressure in regards to religion but in the grand scope of things getting people fed is a bigger priority for many, god or no god.