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Poll Shows Atheism on the Rise in the U.S.
posted on August 15, 2012“Religiosity is on the decline in the U.S. and atheism is on the rise, according to a new worldwide poll,” Kimberly Winston reports for Religion News Service. The WIN-Gallup survey found that in America the number of “convinced atheists” rose from one to five percent between 2005 and 2012. Ryan Cragun, a University of Tampa sociologist of religion, argues that this change has less to do with more people becoming atheists than an increased willingness on the part of Americans to speak openly about their atheism. “What this suggests is that … people are feeling less inclined to identify as religious to comply with what it means to be a good person in the U.S,” says Cragun.