Atheism is a growing religion in American society today. More and more people are questioning whether or not there is a higher power instead of putting all their faith in one.
“People should question all things,” said Ora Wills, a 1956 FAMU graduate from Pensacola.
The growth of atheism is something that has been researched for a long time. It has been looked at because it has seemed to some that atheism growing faster than Christianity. According to the magazine Positive Atheism, in 1990 it was reported that there were about 805,900,000 non-religious people and 210,500,000 atheists in the world.
Some think that the current shift in religious practices is the result of numerous tragic events taking place in the world. “People are really beginning to wonder why things are happening,” said Sabrina Davis, 20, a junior political science/psychology student from Fort Lauderdale. “They are saying that if there is a God, then why are all these things happening?”
According to www.atheistempire.com, Christianity is the No. 1 religion in the world with 2 billion believers. Atheism grouped with secular/nonreligious and agnostic believers ranked as the fourth religion with 850 million believers.
Joseph Davis, 19, a sophomore graphic design student from Tallahassee, said people are becoming atheist because they feel that there are contradictions in some of the holy books, such as the Bible and the Koran.
The question of whether atheism will ever be larger than Christianity is one that many answer with swift words. Virgil Miller, 21, a senior biology/pre-med student from West Palm Beach. said that he feels that Christianity is a tradition that has been around so long, that it will never be abandoned completely.
“Christianity’s roots are too deep, and I don’t see that going anywhere,” he said. Some people feel as if atheism is disrespectful to other religions while some don’t.
Davis disagrees.
“People are entitled through the First Amendment to believe what they will, and that is not disrespectful.”