Pew Research: 21% of atheists believe in "god"?

[Synnical]

http://religions.pewforum.org/

The summary of the report is 91 pages. Who has the time to take such a long survey? I haven't read the summary yet, but definitely want to take a look tomorrow.

http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report2religious-landscape-study-topline.pdf

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2144615920080623?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

* Of the 92 percent of Americans who believe in God, 71 percent said they believe with absolute certainty. And, 21 percent of self-described atheists responded that they believe in God.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/us/24religion.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin.

The new report sheds light on the beliefs of the unaffiliated. Like the overwhelming majority of Americans, 70 percent of the unaffiliated said they believed in God, including one of every five people who identified themselves as atheist and more than half of those who identified as agnostic.

“What does atheist mean? It may mean they don’t believe in God, or it could be that they are hostile to organized religion,” Mr. Green said. “A lot of these unaffiliated people, by some measures, are fairly religious, and then there are those who are affiliated with a religion but don’t believe in God and identify instead with history or holidays or communities.”

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[ihavenobias]

1. Yeah, I saw that too

Sounds like semantics to me, misleading semantics.

[progressoid]

2. Obviously a lot of variance in peoples definitions of A/A

On the plus side, looks like the theists' claim that America is full of the ubber-pious is a bit over optimistic.

Apparently only 71% believe with absolute certainty in God.

http://religions.pewforum.org/comparisons#

[ihavenobias]

3. I'm guessing that number is lower. I'm referring to the absolute belief in God

I would think AT LEAST 10% of those people would be terrified to admit to a pollster or even themselves that they have doubts.

And I'm being generous.

PS---http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ-kwpVvdjo

[onager]

4. Pepe Le Pew Research says: This stinks!

I will eagerly await the real story from those of you who take a close look at this data. i.e., people smarter than me, which is just about everybody except George W. Bush that couch in the living room...

"21% of self-described atheists?" That's almost a quarter. Right off the bat, I know it only refers to those atheists that the researchers talked to.

In my Daily Xer Email Splurge, this will have a screaming headline--in pink or purple--saying "21% of atheists believe in God."

With any luck, the Fundies will be encouraged by this and waste a lot of time and money on an exciting new Mission Outreach To The Atheists...

[trotsky]

10. Funny how that ties right into one of the Xers' greatests myths...

that somehow atheists really DO believe in gawd, but we hate him and are working with Satan to destroy him.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Are those the mythical 'god-haters' than some fundies think all atheists are like?

People that think there is a god, but that it doesn't like us, so they call themselves 'atheist' as a way of rebelling?

[Synnical]

6. This was a push poll - Am I thinking correctly?

Q.16 What is your present religion, if any? Are you Protestant, Roman Catholic, Mormon, Orthodox
such as Greek or Russian Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, agnostic,
something else, or nothing in particular?
INTERVIEWER: IF R VOLUNTEERS “nothing in particular, none, no religion, etc.” BEFORE
REACHING END OF LIST, PROMPT WITH: and would you say that’s atheist, agnostic, or just
nothing in particular?]
IF SOMETHING ELSE OR DK/REF (Q.16 = 11, 99) ASK:
CHR Do you think of yourself as a Christian or not?


IF R NAMED A NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGION IN PREVIOUS QUESTION (e.g. Native American,
Wiccan, Pagan, etc.), DO NOT READ (ENTER "NO" CODE 2)
IF PROTESTANT OR CHRISTIAN UNSPECIFIED OR SOMETHING ELSE/CHRISTIAN
(Q16=1, 13 OR {Q.16=11 AND CHR=1}), ASK:
Q.17 As far as your present religion, what denomination or church, if any, do you identify with most
closely? Just stop me when I get to the right one. Are you (READ) Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran,
Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Episcopalian, Church of Christ, or Disciples of Christ, Congregational
or United Church of Christ, Holiness, Reformed, Church of God, Nondenominational or
Independent Church, Something else Or none in particular?
INTERVIEWER: DO NOT READ QUESTION IF R VOLUNTEERED DENOMINATION

I've known Agnostics to call themselves Christians because they want others to think they are "good people".

No offense intended to any Ags on this forum.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[uberllama42]

7. Why do some theists take this poll as a personal victory?

They seem to think that we are personally responsible for the people who claim to be atheists and later contradict themselves. I personally have no emotional investment in what percentage of Americans are really atheists, and I'm not bothered by the fact that some "atheists" are apparently very stupid.

[charlie]

9. 5% don't think God exists

Which means there are more atheists who don't self-identify as such than there are atheist idiots who "believe in God." Also means there are more atheists than the survey reveals. Even the Pew guy thought this was worth noting.

"When asked about their religious affiliation, the survey finds that slightly less than 2% of the public describes themselves as atheists. By contrast, when asked whether or not they believe in God or a universal spirit, about twice as many (5%) say that they do not believe in God. So, technically, there are more atheists in the United States than there are people who call themselves atheists."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/06/20/DI2008062002010.html

[trotsky]

11. They sure seem to, don't they?

Yet there are millions of Christians who don't believe Jesus was the literal son of god. And that's not even beginning to scratch the surface - "cafeteria Catholics", other religious adherents who use their own secular common sense in determining which aspects of their religion are "true", all reveal the overwhelming influence and positive effects of secularism and liberalism in moderating religion.

[and-justice-for-all]

8. If that trite is true, then bald is a hair color...nt