A Contemporary Analysis on the Expansion of Modern Atheism.

A Contemporary Analysis on the Expansion of Modern Atheism.
by Matthew .....

Nicole Smalkowski, a seventeen-year-old Hardesty, Oklahoma resident, refused to recite the "Lord's Prayer" at her High School Basketball Game. School officials were appalled to discover that the Smalkowski family was atheist. The resulting chain of events led to the slander of Nicole and her family, with the intention to remove her from the team. When Nicole's father, Chuck, learned his daughter was being discriminated against, Chuck and his wife Nadia went to the home of Principal Lloyd Buckley to discuss the matter. An altercation ensued resulting in Principal Buckley attacking Chuck. Despite the fact that Principal Buckley began the physical altercation, charges were solely brought against Chuck, only to be reneged if the Smalkowskis left Oklahoma, as per Principal Buckley's demands. The religious struggle spread to the court, where Nicole's teacher arrogantly displayed her emotion towards the situation when she maliciously exclaimed in court, "This is a Christian country, if you don't like it get out!" The poisonous words that exited the teacher’s mouth dually exemplified the vindictive power of hatred, as well as the urgency to rectify the matter at hand. The story of Nicole Smalkowski did not happen 100 years ago, it happened in a time that hails freedom of religion, a time that lauds separation of church and state, a time in which beliefs are free from persecution- it happened in 2005.

Although the discrimination of atheists has been prevalent throughout history, a sudden plethora of anti-atheist sentiments are now flooding the media channels. In fact, a 2007 Gallup survey confirms Americans least identified with atheists and are least likely to vote for them out of all the other minorities. Only 45% of American voters are willing to vote for an atheist, even less likely than homosexuals (55%), candidates older than 72 (57%), and candidates married three times (67%).

Anti-atheist hatred, however, has not stopped a decade long emergence and expansion of Atheism that is taking place on all sides of the globe. The expansion of Atheism ostensibly contradicts the growing hatred towards atheists; after all, it is undoubtedly illogical to join the least identified with minority in America. Extensive analysis of recent drastic changes within the social, political, and cultural global climate hold the underpinnings for the sudden emergence and proliferation of Atheism.

In examining the global development of Atheism, it is important to note that it is hard to measure religious standings with precise statistical evidence, due to a minority of countries, such as China, that interfere with religious oriented polls due to the regulation of information. While the belief of deities in some countries has remained constant, there is an incontrovertible growth of non-believers in western democratic nations. According to CUNY’s 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, 14% of Americans claim no religion, up from 8% in 1990. America, however, is not the only democratic nation which currently displays exponential atheistic growth: According to Gallup and Lindsay, Canadian belief has declined 7% in 20 years, and British belief a staggering 15%. Finally, according to Norris and Inglehart (2004) the percentage of people believing in God over the past 50 years has declined by 33% in Sweden, 22% in the Netherlands, and over 100% throughout other countries in Europe.

The extraordinary development of Atheism within current times may seem to be based upon arbitrary percentages. However, there is a true pattern and method to the proliferation of Atheism throughout the world. The recent upsurge in world terrorism is the most logical theory to the growth of Atheism, and as religious belief creates strife, atheistic belief emerges as the counterbalance to religion. Although a general theory can connect the upsurge in global terrorism to the upsurge in Atheism, analyzing the astonishing differences between nations with rates of non-believers illustrates a true framework for the spread of Atheism throughout western democracies. Included in the atheistic framework is the analysis of how that country specifically affects the growth of Atheism. What is the reason that third-world countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America possess nearly no atheists, yet western European nations teem with non-believers? Karl Marx hinted to the resolution when he stated in 1843, "people who suffer in oppressive social conditions are apt to turn to religion for social comfort." If there is a stable economy, extensive healthcare system, and proper housing, than religiosity will be on the decline. The physical satisfaction consequently leads to a saturated level of content, in which the belief in a deity is not necessary. In contrast, economic inequality and incessant turmoil breed the need for religious comfort. Simply, liberalism promotes Atheism, or in a more flowery label, humanism.

The notion that humanistic culture denies the existence of G-d can be an insolent smack to the religious mind, yet there is empirical confirmation in support of this idea. The Human Development Report (2004), commissioned by The United Nations Development Program preformed a study and rank of 177 nations on a “Human Development Index.” The index was created to assess the level of national societal health through an evaluation of life expectancy at birth, adult literacy rate, educational attainment, and per capita income. Consider the 2004 Report, in which the findings produced the five highest ranked nations in terms of complete human development as Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands. Consequently, each of these five countries is distinguished by noticeably high rates of non-believers. Additionally, the data proved that liberalism is in sync with Atheism by displaying the top 25 nations in the humanistic index versus the atheistic index. In an astonishing discovery, each of the top 25 humanistic nations except for one (Ireland) was identically correlated with the top 25 atheistic nations. In contrast, the countries that scored lowest on the “Human Development Index” were all countries that statistically possess high levels of religious belief.

Does this data seem to suggest that belief in G-d is in fact a causative for low societal health? The data does not necessarily suggest such a radical notion, however, the data illustrates the idea that as humanistic ideals flourish in western democratic nations, so too will growth in Atheism. The current proliferation of Atheism can thus be greatly attributed to the recent growth of humanistic ideals in the modern world. In fact, in all 5,000 years of global history, whenever man developed a higher humanistic ideal the growth of Atheism was also evident.

Joseph McCabe (1867-1955), one of the most well known atheists in Europe during his time, could not have more elaborately stated this idea as he did in his work “The Rise and Fall of the Gods.” McCabe writes:


“We find atheism in ancient Egypt in spite of the scantiness of the literary remains and the despotic power of the priests. We see it so widespread in civilization 2,500 years ago that it takes a prominent place in history in the form of the Ionian philosophy of Greece and the ethic of Buddha and Confucius in Asia. Then there is the high cultural development of the Greek-Roman civilization, and from 300 B.C. to 300 A.D. we find the thinly veiled Atheism of the Stoics. Epicureans, and Skeptics accepted by the great majority of the better-educated. Atheism perishes again with the crass ignorance and clerical tyranny of the Iron Age, but it spreads widely in the light of the Arab-Persian civilization, wherever the fanatics are checked, and at the Renaissance it reappears in Christendom.”



Today’s humanistic development comes in the form of political reforms and heated courtroom debates. The highly contentious arguments of whether to teach students evolutionary science, a woman’s right to abortion, stem-cell research, as well as the debate to allow homosexual marriages are all political reforms that are currently molding western humanistic ideals. With current massive humanistic developments in politics, Atheism is free to grow with liberalism. Religion has never been more in the limelight than in current times. Religious belief shapes the political world, and religious belief destroys the world through terrorism. In direct opposition towards the current power of religion, humanistic ideals form to battle the belief in G-d, consequently spreading Atheism. As McCabe illustrated throughout history, Atheism will expand with the simultaneous expansion of humanistic ideals.

The theory that Atheism grows with liberalism remains untenable without the proper conduits for atheist expansion. It seems plausible to assume that in ancient times bathhouses, theatres, and lecture halls, were the channels for simultaneous liberal atheist expansion. In the modern era, however, the influential powers that provide thrust to the expansion are universities, the currently evolving Internet, and the general media conglomerate.

The Internet has always been a continuously developing framework of information. Recently, however, the World Wide Web has evolved into a user-oriented structure of content that is fraught with social networking sites, blogs, and user-controlled websites such as Youtube and Digg. (Youtube is a site that enables users to upload and share video content; Digg allows users to upload news stories, vote on their favorite news, and engage in community discussions based on that news). The new Web 2.0, as tech pundits prefer to call it, has presented established atheists with a new medium to “recruit” current agnostics and noncommittal disbelievers. The new medium has offered atheists the ability to reach hundreds of millions of people like never before, to preach, or even just to speak their own opinions on religion.

A search on Youtube for Atheism returns scores of videos, with millions of views, and thousands of ratings. Even video groups such as “BlashpemyChallenge” are banding within the Youtube community to deliberately profane the name of G-d. The videos generate hundreds of thousands of views, coaxing users to upload videos with scornful remarks against G-d and religion. Youtube has been the digital medium to discuss the current New York Times Bestseller, The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins, a deliberately disdainful book that decries religion and has amassed a huge assembly of followers on Youtube.

The sacrilegious following spreads to Digg where millions of users are uploading vast amounts of current news regarding Atheism. In the past few months, there have been over ten articles on the front page lauding Richard Dawkins, and many more news stories on general Atheism. A couple months ago there was a front-page article on Digg entitled “Murdered for being Atheist,” the first few comments on the page generated over 700 Diggs (or user thumbs up) meaning approval by the readers. The first two comments were, “It seems like people who are deeply religious are prone to having hallucinations and delusions,” and “He likes god so much lets send him there.” The first two comments on the page are clearly anti-religious comments that contain undertones of religious abhorrence and vindictive emotion. Consider a poll I conducted on Digg to account for the ratio of liberals and atheists versus total Digg users. When asked: “As a Digg user do you consider yourself atheist?” 46% respondents said they were atheist, as well as 31% said they were liberal. In terms of proportion, for a top 50 website to contain such a high level of liberals and atheists illustrates an exponential growth of atheists within the Web 2.0 community.

Of course I am not suggesting that Youtube and Digg are the sole cause for the recent proliferation of Atheism, only that they are conduits for the expansion of disbelief. One can safely assume, however, that if not for Web 2.0 sites such as Youtube and Digg, the recent emergence of Atheism would not have expanded so rapidly. The Internet has become the new atheistic lobby, where when viewed as a whole, represents a formidable force that can influence public view.

As evident, current media channels are unequivocally aiding the growth of Atheism, as well as reshaping the way atheists relay their message to the masses. It is important to note a subtlety, however, within the current expansion of Atheism that is only apparent when properly analyzed. The proliferation of Atheism is not a reemergence of ordinarily passive Atheism, but a new emergence of an active Atheistic movement. Atheism was a belief long shunned by the world, and supporters of disbelief were apprehensive to let their views surface, in fear of being persecuted. The new Atheistic movement, however, utilizes media channels to decry religion as harmful to society, their public views fraught with firebrand and scorn, in an ironic attempt to mock heated religious sermons. As Gary Wolf said in his Wired Magazine article, “The Church of the Non-Believers,” “The new Atheists condemn not just belief in God but respect for belief in God. Religion is not only wrong; it's evil.” Proponents for the new disbelief are famed atheists Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennet, and Sam Harris, as well as young atheistic adults who are learning to view religion as an archaic notion which debilitates the advancement of human society.

When Richard Dawkins released his book in 2006 The God Delusion, no one even entertained the idea that a belligerent and vindictive, albeit witty author could secure a spot on the New York Times Bestseller List. Month after month however, The God Delusion teetered at the top of the list, seductively tempting any intellectual thinker to at least skim through the work. Dawkins’ book, though appealing to the intellectual mind, contains radical atheistic views, that are not supported by all atheists alike. Dawkins might have even crossed the line when he stated in his introduction, “As long as we accept the principle that religious faith must be respected simply because it is religious faith, it is hard to withhold respect from the faith of Osama bin Laden and the suicide bombers." To intimate that terrorism contains the same illogical discriminating belief system as religion, is simultaneously causing Atheism to develop its own discriminatory belief system.

Dawkins in supported by his colleagues Daniel Dennet and Sam Harris. Dennet is famous for his book Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon in which he portrays religion as a hindrance to humanistic goals, and a nonsensical regress in terms of evolutional development. Sam Harris takes it one step further in his book The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the End of Reason. Harris deeply spurns religious thought, and even suffices to say that religion will be the downfall of humanity, ultimately causing (as ironic as it sounds) an apocalypse.

These new Atheist leaders have gained a loyal following within the young atheistic community. A survey of young people 18-25 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows Atheism, as a definition of personal belief, has grown 9% in the last ten years, more than any other demographic category. Furthermore, in line with new Atheism, 18-25 year olds are most likely to shun religious beliefs as cause for political action, and are least likely to recognize spiritual growth as containing any relative importance. Aiding the expansion of new Atheism within 18-25 year olds is the fact that 91% of this demographic use the Internet, and as discussed before, the Web 2.0 infrastructure serves as the best medium for atheistic discussion, support, and proliferation.

Accompanying new Atheism and Web 2.0 comes the ability to publicly announce your disbelief in a deity without fear of persecution. On March 12, 2007 the first non-theistic member of Congress stepped forward to claim his atheist title. Rep. Fortney "Pete" Stark, of California announced his disbelief in a deity to the Secular Coalition for America, an association of atheist and humanist groups, as "a Unitarian who does not believe in a Supreme Being.'' Many atheists are likening the current emergence of closet atheists within the public sector to the only recent acceptance of Homosexuals within the United States. Although Homosexual relationships were frowned upon for most of the 1900’s, by the turn of the century Homosexuals started to acquire the same rights as straight citizens. Atheists, too, acknowledge the road to total acceptance contains many jagged stones, but eventually full-fledged respect will be a reality. Assuming his declaration would destroy his political career, Rep. Stark has been pleasantly surprised at the positive feedback he’s received since his announcement. Rep. Stark told a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle, “I don't know what the guys who put out the press release did, but I'd like to hire their PR person to run my next campaign. In this instance, the people who have disagreed with me have been polite and reasonable. All in all, this has been a pleasurable experience.''

The reaction to the rise of Atheism by religious believers is by no means a congenial response. Wendy Kaminer, author of seven books on social criticism, warns against the hostility that the current growth in the Atheistic movement portrays. At the annual American Civil Liberties Union banquet, Karen spoke on the fact that humanist ideals do not contradict religion; and conversely, atheistic ideals don’t guarantee humanistic ideals. Karen reminded listeners that important intellectual customs arose from religion, such as the Jesuits and Talmudist scholars. Furthermore, important American developments such as abolition and the civil rights movement stemmed from religious belief. In contrast, the Holocaust, Communism, and the wars of the twentieth century were “committed not in the name of religion, but committed in the name of nationalism and secular ideologies.” Karen stresses that religion is not the problem, but humans are the essential problem. Other religious leaders take on more active roles in the reaction towards the growth in Atheism. These actions include the response by the Angelus Temple Church in Echo Park, California. The pastors at the Angelus Temple acknowledge the growth of Atheism amongst youngsters and counter the hostile growth by providing rock-concerts, and unique spiritually geared events. If the 18-25 demographic is to be won over, the pastors at Angelus Temple understand there is a need for a new fresh way to tackle religion. The reaction towards atheist expansion takes many forms, and as long as G-d is fought by large numbers, the responses will continuously become more drastic.

The future of Atheism is a vague cloud of uncertainty. Current times portray Atheism not only as a humanistic proliferation, but also as a counterbalance to terrorism in the world. Although Atheists are growing exponentially in western democracies, the growth rate of religious believers will always dwarf non-believers due to the birth rate of religious believers throughout the world. Belief in an active Atheism will continue to surge as Earth evolves, but so will the belief in a Supreme Being, as children across the world are raised believers. G-d’s questionable existence will remain as a debate of logic versus faith, just as it has been argued for thousands of years. The encouraging feedback from Rep. Stark’s declaration may hold clue to the future of Atheism within the western world. For now however, stories such as Nicole Smalkowski’s persecution will remain ingrained in our minds, as proof to the paradox between traditional beliefs that have become a part of our culture, and the growing liberal atmosphere that is continuously molding western democracies. It is this precise clash of faiths that poses the greatest threat to the way in which our political, social, and cultural futures are formed. Only after deliberate and progressive reform, perhaps with the introduction of structured dialogue, will believers and non-believers alike grow together in a harmonious unification of freethinking faith.


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