Atheists and God

I was finally able to read the summary of key findings of the U. S. Religious Landscape Survey published by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. My sabbatical research has not allowed me to do much blogging nor extra reading outside my area of research.

The survey conducted by the Pew Forum is a major study on how Americans view religion and how they approach their faith. The survey was taken among 35,000 Americans of all faiths and ideologies in order to ascertain the beliefs and practices of religious and non-religious people.

Both Duane Smith and Iyov have already commented on this survey. I invite you to visit their blogs and read what they have written about the survey. What I want to do here is give my perspective on the survey. My post will be divided into two sections. In the present post I want to comment on what the survey has to say about atheists and God. In an upcoming post I will discuss what the survey has to say about evangelicals and God.

The U. S. Religious Landscape Survey reports the following results:

1. Do you believe in the existence of God?

Atheists:
21% believe in God. Of these:
6% believe in a personal God
12% believe in an impersonal force
3% don’t know

Agnostics:
55% believe in God. Of these:
14% believe in a personal God
36% believe in an impersonal force
5% don’t know

Secular people not affiliated with a religious group
66% believe in God. Of these:
20% believe in a personal God
40% believe in an impersonal God
7% don’t know

2. Certainty of Belief in God or Universal Spirit

Atheists:
21% believe in God
8% absolutely certain
13% less certain

Agnostics
55% believe in God
17% absolutely certain
38% less certain

Secular people not affiliated with a religious group
66% believe in God
24% absolutely certain
42% less certain

3. Belief in Heaven and Hell

Atheists:
12% believe in Heaven
10% believe in Hell

Agnostics
18% believe in Heaven
12% believe in Hell

Secular people not affiliated with a religious group
32% believe in Heaven
23% believe in Hell

4. Prayer and Meditation

Atheists:
10% pray at least weekly
18% meditate at least weekly

Agnostics
18% pray at least weekly
25% meditate at least weekly

Secular people not affiliated with a religious group
19% believe in Heaven
22% believe in Hell

These numbers are very revealing. Granted, there may be different ways of understanding these numbers. However these numbers are interpreted, the information they provide is still very revealing. How do we interpret these numbers? In what follows I offer several ways of understanding what the Pew survey says about atheists and God. I believe the same could be said about agnostics and secular people.

First, it is possible, as Iyov has suggested, that the survey was poorly designed and that the results are distorted and do not really reflect the views of those surveyed. Second, it is also possible, as Duane has suggested, that questions, methodology in polling, and the sample size of those surveyed also skewed the results. It is even possible, as Iyov also suggested, that many people “have problems with polysyllabic words.”

All of these possibilities could have influenced the answers of those polled by the Pew Forum. However, I have a different perspective on the results of the survey.

Let us for the moment accept the view that the survey presents reliable information, that the numbers truly confirm the beliefs and practices of those people who were surveyed. If the survey presents reliable information about what Americans believe about religious issues, then, what the survey says about atheists should be taken seriously. This is how I view the answers:

1. It is possible that many atheists pray or meditate regularly. Their prayers would be addressed to some impersonal force considered to be the giver of life, the ground of being, or some manifestation of eastern religious or philosophical idea.

2. Some atheists believe in heaven or hell but not the kind of heaven or hell that is taught by Christianity. One good example is provided by a reader of my blog who is an atheist who said he believed in heaven. He wrote: “I am comfortable with the fact that there is nothing after this, but I do believe in Heaven. Only my heaven is what I'm living everyday I wake up, and when it ends, it was worth it.”

3. It is possible that some atheists and agnostics when confronted with their mortality or when dealing with the issue of death look at the possibility of the existence of God and life after death with more realistic eyes. This is what I believe happened with Robert Ingersoll, “the Great Atheist.” In a speech at the time of the death of his brother, Ingersoll’s eulogy was a wish for the existence of a God, a request for someone who could answer prayer and provide hope after death.

4. The fact that 21% of atheists and 55% of agnostics believe in the existence of God may reflect the different levels in the spectrum of probabilities about the existence of God that Richard Dawkins developed. In this spectrum, there are seven levels of probability concerning the issue whether God exists. At one extreme is Level 1, where strong theists are. Those who are on Level 1 believe 100% that God exists. On the other extreme, Level 7 is where the strong atheists are. A strong atheist is the one who says for a fact that there is no God. Dawkins places himself at Level 6. Those who are on Level 6 say that there is a very low probability that God exists. Those on Level 6 are the people who say they cannot know for sure but think that maybe God does not exist. It is possible that many atheists are at level 5, 4, or even 3. Thus, as the Pew Survey reveals, deep down in their inner being, many atheists believe in God, primarily those who are at different levels in the spectrum of probability.

Finally, what the U. S. Religious Landscape Survey published by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life truly reveals is that there is still hope for atheists.

Next: Evangelicals and God

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Agnostics, Atheists, Pew Survey