Many U.S. Atheists Hide Their Unbelief due to Social Stigma

As noted by Abbott, female atheist respondents frequently reported being seen as “sexually immoral,” while atheists living in conservative-leaning rural areas reported facing difficulty finding secular mental healthcare providers.

“Atheists living in small towns — which tend to be more religious and politically conservative — often reported experiencing a heightened sense of danger because of their non-belief,” she explained. “Rural atheists talked about a fear of violence more than urban atheists did.”

Despite the low number of hate crime reports against atheists, Abbott pointed out that one participant had received death threats at a local restaurant for writing a secular opinion in a community newspaper, The Christian Post reports.

According to a 2021 Pew Research Center report, 29 percent of U.S. adults identify as religious “nones” — people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” — while 63 percent identify as Christian.

Pew also noted that the number of religious “nones” was six percent higher in 2021 than it was five years earlier and ten percent higher than it was ten years ago.

Last September, Pew predicted that the U.S. would no longer be a majority Christian nation by 2045 if the pace of Christians departing from the faith continued to increase.

“By 2055, the unaffiliated would make up the largest group (46 percent), ahead of Christians (43 percent). In 2070, 52 percent of Americans would be unaffiliated, while a little more than a third (35 percent) would be Christian,” the Pew Report explained.

Photo courtesy: Unsplash/Ant Rozetsky

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for Christian Headlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.