Statistics: Awareness of Atheism

Disclaimer: From the school of you can make statistics say anything you want, I’ve collected some data and made some speculations (feel free to make your own).
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I’ve heard it said that atheism is growing, but I wonder if the assertion is true. One way to get a clue is by surveying the public - the best example being national census/surveys. Polls in Canada show atheism clearly on the rise (we went from 1% to 16% between 1971 and 2001). The picture doesn’t seem to be quite as quite as rosy in the United States.

Surveys aren’t the complete picture since they don’t fully address awareness of atheism - awareness being the first step toward deconversion. The question of awareness got me wondering about the number of news articles being written at least partially on the subject of atheism. I went to Google News to see what I could learn:

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  1. Good News: Between January 2006 and 2008, there was an approximate 75% increase in the number of news articles containing “atheism” or “atheist”. This figure throws out a December 2007 spike to be explained below.
  2. Interesting News: There are more articles written about atheism in December than any other month. Is it just a coincidence that December is the high point of the Christian calendar and that more is being said about atheism at that time of year?
  3. Depressing News: Articles that generated the highest peaks were almost always written on religious websites/by theist authors. In other words, we get our best press when theists ponder our - in their view - wrongness. This is, unfortunately, consistent with the previous point about December articles.
  4. Celebrity News: By far, the biggest boost to atheism came with the December release of The Golden Compass. In case you were asleep, there was quite a bit of controversy in religious circles as to the films anti-religious leanings. Atheism got it’s all-time biggest boost over this nugget of controversy.
  5. Not Surprising News: There were some upswings in conjunction with major book releases. Generally speaking, there were small two to three month blips around The God Delusion (October 2006) and God Is Not Great (May 2007). This is pure speculation - although there were blips in those months, I can’t say for sure the books were 100% causal. That said, it’s probably a fair guess they had at least some impact.
  6. Very Bad News: March 2008 (the last month of Google News data) showed the largest drop in atheism articles over the past two years. In fact, the number of articles indexed on Google in March 2008 was almost as low as the number indexed in March 2006.

Notes On The Data

  1. I conducted analysis using “atheism” and “atheists”. The numbers (e.g. 75% growth) were similar for each.
  2. I was a bit concerned that the numbers may have been indicative of overall Google News growth. Meaning, I thought that perhaps Google’s overall news grew by 75% - just like the percent increase in atheist articles. To test this, I conducted the same analysis on “religion” and “Christianity” and found that the percent growth wasn’t even close to “atheism” and “atheist” growth. The growth of the former search words were quite flat.

What Can We Learn From This?

I’m not a media guy, but I think someone with media background could use this information to great effect. My own thoughts are that:

  1. Books Help (I know - duh): My sense (based on nothing) is that most of the big books have probably already been written and that, to be successful, new ones will need to hit a new demographic (e.g. maybe someone can break in by dumbing it down a bit and speaking to the masses). If famous atheists Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were to write a book about atheism, it might just become cool to be one.
  2. Movies and Controversy Bring More Attention Than Books: Let’s face it, North America loves its movies. The bigger the movie with ties to atheism, the better the message will get out. Someone needs to get on that. I tend to think that a mainstream movie with a controversial atheist agenda might do well because of it.
  3. The Tail Needs to Learn How to Wag the Dog: We know the news covers atheism when theists write about it. My view is we should figure out one kick-ass way to feed the trolls.
  4. Christmas: Feed the trolls more at Christmas since theists seem to be looking for it anyway.
  5. No Stopping: Does the trend of less media coverage mean people are tiring of the atheist message, or is it just time to think hard about the approach we’re using to get that message across? 

One Last Thought

We still don’t seem to have a meme that’s taken hold in a big way. We’ve got a few out there (Out Campaign, The Brights, and The Blasphemy Challenge) that seem to appeal to atheists, but none that seem to have really struck a positive chord with the greater public.

What makes a good internet meme? How do we get all the cool kids to run around with an atheist related t-shirt? I’m no expert on memes - I just think that no one has hit that particular nail on the head …yet.

What are your thoughts? How do we increase atheism’s visibility in the news? How do we reverse what looks like a recent decline in news coverage and public awareness?

August 11, 2008 · Filed Under Atheism

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Can Atheists Be Spiritual?

I am slowly finding like-minded bloggers who feel the need to express what they believe in, in addition to the assertion that they have no belief in god(s).

Here’s a gem written by David Garnet over at Glittering Muse.

If we are to attract more people to atheism and the humanist worldview, we need more of this kind of writing.

July 30, 2008 · Filed Under Atheism

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Seth MacFarlane Likes to Piss Off Southerners

The creator of Family Guy is one funny dude.

MORE AT ATHEISTNATION.NET

July 30, 2008 · Filed Under funnier than hell

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XTC ‘Dear god’ Lyrics & Videos

XTC dear godI trade emails with a group of co-workers and past co-workers. Today, someone in the group said, “God Bless Canada”. Another friend replied with, “What if you don’t believe in god?” (huzzah!) and then followed up with the lyrics of a 1987 song called Dear god by the British Band XTC (probably best known for We’re Only Making Plans for Nigel). I’ve pasted the lyrics below. Not only are they clearly and strongly written from the point of view of an atheist, but they write god without a capital “G”. A nice touch if you ask me.
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Update: I went to submit this post to Reddit and saw the XTC Dear god video had already been posted on youtube so I’m adding that, as well as a Sarah McLachlan version.

Dear god,
Hope you got the letter,
And I pray you can make it better down here.
I dont mean a big reduction in the price of beer,
But all the people that you made in your image,
See them starving on their feet,
cause they dont get enough to eat

From god,
I cant believe in you.

Dear god,
Sorry to disturb you,
But I feel that I should be heard loud and clear.
We all need a big reduction in amount of tears,
And all the people that you made in your image,
See them fighting in the street,
cause they cant make opinions meet,
About god,
I cant believe in you.

Did you make disease, and the diamond blue?
Did you make mankind after we made you?
And the devil too!

Dear god,
Dont know if you noticed,
But your name is on a lot of quotes in this book.
Us crazy humans wrote it, you should take a look,
And all the people that you made in your image,
Still believing that junk is true.
Well I know it aint and so do you,

Dear god,
I cant believe in,
I dont believe in,

I wont believe in heaven and hell.
No saints, no sinners,
No devil as well.
No pearly gates, no thorny crown.
Youre always letting us humans down.
The wars you bring, the babes you drown.
Those lost at sea and never found,
And its the same the whole world round.
The hurt I see helps to compound,
That the father, son and holy ghost,
Is just somebodys unholy hoax,
And if youre up there youll perceive,
That my hearts here upon my sleeve.
If theres one thing I dont believe in…

Its you,
Dear god.

July 24, 2008 · Filed Under Atheism, video

1 Comment 

Who Needs To Be In My Blogroll?

I’ve been doing some work on my sidebar and bookmark page. What links am I missing that you think should be in every good rational, freethinking, atheist’s blog?

July 14, 2008 · Filed Under Atheism

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Karma Isn’t The Answer Either

It’s funny how one broken brick can lead to an entire wall falling down…

One of the first aha! moments I had after letting go of my god delusion was the realization that leading one’s life according to the laws (?) of Karma isn’t much better.

The Stoke-On-Trent Humanist Group has it partly right:

These people are deluding themselves. Karma is an Eastern idea, popular in sophisticated quasi-religious philosophies like Buddhism, and is a way of dishing out false hope to the down trodden and wretched without the need to invoke a god.

False hope. Sound familiar?

What’s also familiar to me is the idea that the good and bad stuff you do is being recorded somewhere. Only, instead of gods doing the tallying, the universe somehow is. Make no mistake however, that you are being judged. Everything you do goes into a score book which will be used to determine your reward (coming back as a more enlightened human) or punishment (coming back as a dung-beetle).

I think a lot of people who let go of gods replace them with mysticism of this sort - the supernatural idea that, somehow, the universe has taken a personal stake in your moral behavior. To me, karma sounds a lot like sin.

Let’s stop the madness and give up this perverse idea that someone or something is watching us and judging for the purpose of determining where we fit in after we are dead.

July 12, 2008 · Filed Under Atheism

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Who’s Your Nomination For The Fifth Horseman?

I downloaded the Four Horsemen from richardawkins.net a couple of nights ago, and got to wondering who the fifth horseman might be. Even though I like to think I have the occasional original idea, I decided to Google the matter here and here and found that there were at least a few people wondering the same thing.

For the record, here are my top three choices:

Pat Condell: This guy makes Christopher Hitchens look like a beat-around-the-bushes mambie pambie pussy. ‘Nuff said. You can find Pat on his web site and Youtube channel.

Bart Ehrman: I think it would be safe to say that most other candidates for the fifth horseman are not Bible experts. Ehrman fills this void. His knowledge of Bible history and textual criticism is mind blowing. I especially like his there are more mistakes than there are words in the Bible quote. Ehrman has written several books - his most well known probably being Misquoting Jesus. Here’s a video of Bart Ehrman speaking at Stanford.

PZ Meyers: Through his Pharyngula science blog, PZ Meyers has become one of the most vocal and convincing atheist voices on the web. The guy is right up there with Dawkins in terms of his ability to explain science and obliterate his opposition. PZ’s blog is updated daily - sometimes several times a day - and is enormously popular.

Time to vote!

Who is your choice for the fifth horseman?

View Results

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July 11, 2008 · Filed Under Atheism, poll

2 Comments 

The Five Most Important Days for Atheists

Head on over the Hemant’s for an interesting 10 year retrospective.

July 10, 2008 · Filed Under Atheism

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The Problem I Have With Atheism

It’s a negative thought. That is, it merely takes a position against something.

And, while I proudly call myself an atheist - a person with no belief in gods - I am a whole lot more than that. Aren’t you?

I now fully realize this as the purpose for this blog - to explore all that I stand for and, hopefully, to get you thinking along the same lines. Previous posts are consistent with this purpose. Now, I’m stating it explicity.

A plan for this blog - and my life - is starting to come together.

July 10, 2008 · Filed Under Atheism, finding meaning

6 Comments 

U.S. Doesn’t Have a Monopoly on Fundie/Creationist Crap

Much of the ridicule aimed at fundamentalists and creationists is directed at the US Bible Belt. I’m not from there. I’m Canadian.

And while many people are correct to say that Canada has much less of this garbage going on, there is one province that is the exception. That province is where I make my home - the province of Alberta.

Alberta is known as the most conservative province in Canada. There are good reasons for it being included in a recent variation of the United States of Canada and Jesusland map.

After all, we have our very own Big Valley Creation Museum. Yay Alberta.

dinosaurs among humans

July 7, 2008 · Filed Under Atheism, religion

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