Debunking the Atheist Claim of Growth (Again)

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Many times, I have encountered atheists who make the claim that atheism is growing. (Why anyone would join a religion like atheism that has no factual support, is incoherent, has vituperative trolls, a high percentage of unpleasant adherents and other things working against it is beyond me.) Their claim of growth has been debunked several times, and Christianity is growing (an example of debunking their claims is this reference).

Some atheopaths resort to using a survey that was conducted by the Gallup people. They love to find the exception to prove their belief system. It turns out that this survey was not adequately performed.

Often it’s worth closely examining the dramatic claims made by the media. Some media outlets seem to be attracted to claims that atheism is on the rise and that religion in general (and Christianity in particular) is in decline. As Christians and members of the Church in Toronto we ought to “prove all things.” What follows is my attempt to examine some recent claims.

“Atheism is on the rise…international study reveals”

News headlines blare the message—“Atheism is on the rise on a global level, international study reveals…,” the “Number of atheists around the world is rising.” “Religiosity… Declines Worldwide; Atheism on the Rise,” declared the Huffington Post. “The world less religious now than in 2005: Report,” states the Toronto Sun. Thus the media conveyed the results of WIN-Gallup International’s study using its “Global Index of Religion & Atheism.” In 2012 Gallup asked people in 57 countries, "Irrespective 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?" Gallup analyzed their answers.

We will focus on the “big picture” results for the globe. Globally Gallup reports that, “59% of respondents think of themselves as religious, 23% as not religious and 13% as convinced atheists.” Moreover, they “found the number of people around the world who claim to be religious dropped 9% since 2005, while atheism rose 3%.” These are the figures behind the headlines.

You can learn a truth about global atheism, that adherents of atheism disingenuously inflate their numbers, by continuing to read, "GLOBAL ATHEISM ON THE RISE — REALLY?", here.