A global research project that seeks to explain why atheism is rising across the globe has launched its interim results, with one researcher claiming that the UK is entering its first “atheist age” as its atheists outnumber its theists.
The team behind the ‘Explaining Atheism’ project found that most atheists and agnostics endorse “objective moral values, human dignity, and inherent rights”, while maintaining a “deep value” for nature, which they state challenges the popular concept of the “purposeless unbeliever” who lacks meaning, morality and purpose in life.
Similarly, the research found that atheists and agnostics are similar to the general population when it comes to viewing “family” and “freedom” as important for finding meaning.
Funded by the John Templeton Foundation and spanning a three-year period, the research team surveyed approximately 25,000 people from six countries (Brazil, China, Denmark, Japan, UK, and USA) to understand emerging global atheism and agnosticism.
Results from the British Social Attitudes Survey and World Values Survey were brought together to show that the UK now has a “relative majority of atheists”.
The research also shed light on the nature of modern religious belief, finding that common explanations for why people believe in God or not, such as “intelligence, fear of death, or need for structure”, have scant empirical support.
Meanwhile, a lack of belief in God “does not necessarily rule out belief” in other supernatural phenomena, with most atheists and agnostics describing some form of supernatural belief.
On the role parents play in the transmission of religious belief, the research found that parental upbringing, along with societal expectations, are the strongest influences on belief or lack thereof. While anti-religious parents reportedly do not majorly impact whether their children believe in God, they do influence the level of moral opposition their children feel to religion.
Principal Investigator, Professor Jonathan Lanman from the Queen’s University Belfast School of History said that their “large cross-cultural surveys reveal that while many factors may influence one’s beliefs in small ways, the key factor is the extent to which one is socialised to be a theist”.
“Many other popular theories, such as intelligence, emotional stoicism, broken homes, and rebelliousness, do not stand up to empirical scrutiny,” he said.
“This project helps counter negative stereotypes and stigma towards atheists and theists alike. The common claim among some religious commentators that people become atheists because of immorality and rebellion, or broken homes is not true. Similarly, the common claim among some atheist commentators that individuals become or remain theists because they are less intelligent or emotionally weaker than others is not true.”