Quote:
Originally Posted by Nedusa
Also the change in perception of Atheism has encouraged more people to openly state they have Atheist or even Anti-Theist views, and who can blame them when they look around at the murderous crimes committed in the name of Deities.
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I actually totally agree with that - I suspect that atheism (and certainly non-religion, plenty believe in an unknowable god / creator but not in any sort of religion or church) is not "on the rise" quite as much as it seems - rather, 50 or 60 years ago it would have been viewed as "odd" or even "shameful" not to be a churchgoing Christian, especially in small communities, non-religious families would have found themselves excluded from a lot of the town's social activities, which would have been church-based. Even when I was in primary school (20 - 25 years ago) a LOT of community activity in the village I lived in centered on the church. I think a lot of people who questioned their religion, or even flat out didn't believe in any of it, would have played along simply because that was "the norm", and people generally don't like to stand up and be "different".
I know that my grandfather on my mum's side (I never knew him, he died before I was born) certainly fell into that category. My mum told me that, when she was an adult, he had confessed in a conversation with her that he wasn't a believer at all. However, he was the headmaster of a high school (parents would probably have burned him at the stake) and my grandmother WAS religious (he told my mum to never ever mention what he had said) and so, he dressed up and attended church every Sunday for most of his life.