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  • A Pew Study published in 2015 reported that the number of Americans who don’t affiliate themselves

  • with a religion jumped by almost 35% percent. That’s about 72 million Americans

  • who consider themselves irreligious - and may be atheist, agnostic, or spiritual, but unaffiliated.

  • And worldwide, 13% of people considered themselvesconvinced atheists”,

  • according to a 2012 Gallup International poll. So why is Atheism more popular than ever?

  • Well, first it’s important to understand that atheists are distinct from the religiously unaffiliated.

  • Atheists firmly believe that there is no higher power. This is not to be confused with agnostics,

  • who are uncertain of the existence of a higher power.

  • However, many people use the two terms interchangeably.

  • For much of history atheism has been considered a taboo around the world. In medieval times,

  • it wasn’t uncommon for atheists and other free thinkers to be burned at the stake for heresy.

  • And even today, atheists can still be executed for their beliefs in about 13 countries

  • in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Despite their growing popularity, negative stigmas and stereotypes

  • also continue to affect atheists and the religiously unaffiliated,

  • even in developed countries like the United States.

  • However, there have been growing trends away from religion in America and many other western nations.

  • Pew has attributed the change to the maturing millennial generation, of whom,

  • more than 30% identify as non-religious. Comparatively, only about 11% of the silent generation,

  • born between 1928 and 1945, is non-religious.

  • Other news sources have noted that, for millennials, the rise in atheism has corresponded to increased

  • acceptance of things like gay marriage, and abortion. Conversely, many religious institutions

  • still do not accept these practices. And this conflict of ideas could indicate that

  • millennials are looking away from religions which exclude themselves or their peers.

  • In the coming years the number of non-religious people are predicted to grow to over 1.2 billion worldwide,

  • compared to nearly 6 billion Christians and Muslims. However, the total percentage

  • of the non-religious is actually set to decline overall, as other, religious populations grow faster.

  • So which religion is growing the fastest? If you want to dive deeper, make sure you

  • check out our video hereand if you want to stay up to date with everything TestTube,

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A Pew Study published in 2015 reported that the number of Americans who don’t affiliate themselves

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