Is atheism increasing?

Is atheism on the increase? Some statistical and anecdotal evidence certainly supports answering that question affirmatively (e.g., cf. Laurie Goodstein, “More Atheists Shout It From the Rooftops,” New York Times, April 27, 2009; 2009 Pew Survey, “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey”.)

However, accurately determining whether atheism is actually increasing constitutes a far more difficult problem. Although no survey data on the number of atheists in colonial America exists, the number of eighteenth century worship attendees in America was perhaps a quarter of current attendance. Even if only a relatively small proportion of non-attendees were atheists, they might still out number atheists today.

Furthermore, nobody knows with assurance the proportion of atheists in the population fifty years ago because of a “halo” effect, an unwillingness to stand up against social pressure to confirm to the prevalent belief system. Current data clearly seems to show, if nothing else, that social pressure against openly acknowledging one’s atheism has waned.

That change seems triply beneficial. First, hypocrisy about one’s beliefs – of almost any kind – works to the detriment of all. The notable exception to that generalization is if the hypocrisy is integral to a prescribed program of behavioral therapy in which one avows ideas, and acts in accordance with those avowed ideas, intended to change deeply help negative or limiting beliefs. For example, if a person believes that he or she is worthless, a series of self-affirmations coupled with a program of behaviors associated with a healthy sense of self-esteem can actually help a person to develop a healthier self-image.

Pretending to believe in God has no benefit for the person or larger society. False statements of belief will not convince the hypocrite of God’s existence, will not help the person to experience God, and can actually dilute the credence of those who seek to believe because purported belief lacks transformative power.

Second, hypocrisy about one’s beliefs often discourages the social conformist from grappling with hard questions about God’s existence and harder questions associated with believing that God does not exist. Nobody can logically prove a negative. Thus believing that God does not exist – atheism – represents a far more demanding task than believing that God does exist, a challenge that can lead putative atheists to adopt some form of belief or at least agnosticism.

Finally, many people worship an idol. They direct their worship, no matter how well-intentioned, to a god of their own making, often a god in the image of their dominant parent (cf. Ana Maria Rizzuto, The Living God). Promoting conversation about the divine from all perspectives – believers of all varieties, agnostics, and atheists – often provides a helpful catalyst encouraging and enabling people to move beyond their current idol to a closer, less clouded image of the one true, living God, a God whom no words or images can fully or accurately describe.

Instead of a dichotomous choice between belief and non-belief, I find describing faith as the trajectory of one’s life much more helpful. Faith thus becomes living in the direction of God, i.e., in the direction of life abundant (also described in terms of liberation, salvation, health, etc.) and loving self, others, and the world. According to this approach, those whose trajectory moves in the direction of life abundant form a spectrum of beliefs and practices rather than simply two poles, belief and non-belief.