No Faith In Numbers
                                               
By Conrad Goeringer
This article can be found in the November 2001 Vol 40, No.9 print of “American Atheist Newsletter.”  pp. 4-5
                                                                     p. 2

 
* What about marriage and belief?  The survey confirmed the findings of other studies indicating that Atheists -- and, in this case, those in the “No Religion” category -- have surprisingly low rates of divorce.  Indeed, the divorce rate for this cohort actually declined from the 1990 survey, from 11% to 9%.  Pentecostals and Episcopalian/Anglicans had higher rates (14% and 12%) respectively, as did Assemblies of God and Seventh Day Adventists.  Baptists, a denomination constantly praising “family values” and monogamy, had a 12% divorce rate.  The 9% rate for us was comparable to Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, and others.
  * Some of this MAY be due to the age distribution, though, which shows those of “No Religion” heavily represented by younger cohorts.  Thirty-five percent of us are in the 18-29 age range, with only 8% sixty-five and over.  The only other “denomination” with an equally robust younger segment was defined as “Christian.”  We are far more youthful than Roman Catholics (24%, Jews (14%) or the mainstream Protestant denominations like Lutherans and Presbyterians.  Unfortunately, women are not yet heavily represented in the “No Religion” category.  Forty-one percent of this cohort are female.  Much higher percentages of women are found in denominational groups, most of them showing well over 50% female adherence.
  * Finally, our politics is diverse.  Just as we think freely and independently in respect to religious creeds, we bring a similar range of attitudes toward politics.  Seventeen percent of the “No Religion” group was identified as Republican, 30% as Democrat, with 43% under the “Independent” label.  Another 10% listed “Other/None” as their political preference.  With the exception of the Assemblies of God (59% Republican), no religious denomination had a majority identified with any one major political party.  The “No Religion” cohort, though, can boast far more Independents than religious groups, though (Catholic, 30%; Presbyterian, 26%; Evengelical/Born Again, 20%).
   The ARIS survey is a vital contribution in making “Atheist” an official cohort within American demographic ranks, and in particular within the larger segment of “No Religion.”  Another taboo over the use of the “A-word” has fallen; and surprisingly, we are larger in number than categories like “Secular” and “Humanist.”  If the ARIS census is any indication, “Atheists” have been leaving the closet and casting off the protective camouflage of other labels.  Who knows how many still lurk within the category of the “No Religion” group?



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