Atheists in USA not as Numerous as they seem: Reason Why.

Here’s the problem this this approach: It’s not a measure of atheism. Yes, atheists will say that they don’t believe in

God. But so too will agnostics, who do not believe in God because they don’t think it can be known. In addition, there are people in the world who may believe that God exists, but they don’t “believe” in God in the sense of having faith and following Him. They too will answer “no” to this question. That’s the problem: This question is ambiguous as to whether
it’s getting at belief of God’s existence or acceptance of God as a guiding force.

Think about it. If I ask you if you believe in Barack Obama, I’m not asking if you think he exists as a person, rather do you affirm him as a leader. Or if I ask if you belief in freedom of speech, I’m not asking if you think it exists in our society, but rather if you agree with it.

Likewise, some unknown number of people interpret the question “do you believe in God” to mean do they have faith and follow God. (The GSS question gets around this by giving other belief statements for the respondent to choose from, and they clarify the meaning of the “do you believe in God” statement for some respondents.)
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/blackw...cans-are-atheists-fewer-than-you-might-think/

Click to expand...