Atheism on the rise around the globe
Atheism is on the rise in the United States and elsewhere while religiosity is declining, according to a new worldwide poll. 鈥�,鈥� conducted by WIN-Gallup International headquartered in Switzerland, found that the number of Americans who say they are 鈥渞eligious鈥� dropped from 73 percent in 2005 鈥� when the poll was last conducted 鈥� to 60 percent. Those who said they were 鈥渃onvinced鈥� atheists rose from 1 to 5 percent. And 33 percent of the people polled said that they don鈥檛 consider themselves as a 鈥渞eligious person."
Nonbelievers
Ryan Cragun, a University of Tampa sociologist of religion, told the 鈥溾�� he questions whether the number of atheists in the United States really grew as the poll suggested. Dr. Cragun suggests that people may just be more comfortable identifying themselves as atheist.
That view seems consistent with a study conducted by the Pew Research Center鈥檚 Forum on Religion & Public Life in 2009 showing that 5 percent of Americans at that time said they did not believe in God or a universal spirit, but only 24 percent of the nonbelievers actually called themselves atheists.
The new poll is based on interviews (face-to-face, by telephone or online varying from country to country) with more than 50,000 people from 57 countries. The participants were asked this question: 鈥淚rrespective of whether you attend a place of worship or not, would you say you are a religious person, not a religious person, or a convinced atheist?鈥�
America remains way down the list of countries for self-reported atheism. China tops that list with 47 percent 鈥渃onvinced atheists,鈥� followed by Japan (31 percent), the Czech Republic (30 percent), France (29 percent), and South Korea (15 percent).
Religious Ghana
According to the poll, the following are the top ten religious countries: Ghana (96 percent of the participants that they are religious), Nigeria (93 percent), Armenia (92 percent), Fiji (92 percent), Macedonia (90 percent), Romania (89 percent), Iraq (88 percent), Kenya (88 percent), Peru (86 percent), and Brazil (85 percent).
The least religious nations, according to the poll, are China (14 percent saying they are religious), Japan (16 percent), Czech Republic (20 percent), Turkey (23 percent), Sweden (29 percent), Vietnam (30 percent), Australia (37 percent), France (37 percent), Hong Kong (38 percent) and Austria (42 percent).
