Why are so many atheists, agnostics attending services?
The Layman Online, October 15, 1999
Hundreds of thousands of adults who are atheists or agnostics attend Christian churches, according to the Barna Research Group of Ventura, Calif.
The researchers say the attendance raises a question: “Is their attendance reason to rejoice, because the mission field is being attracted to the church, or reason for discouragement, because believers and seekers are losing faith?”
The Barna study shows that roughly 7 percent of the adult population – approximately 14 million people – describe themselves as atheistic or agnostic. America has more atheists and agnostics than Mormons (by a 3 to 1 margin), Jews (by a 4 to 1 margin) or Muslims (by a 14 to 1 margin).
The study pointed out that atheists and agnostics are six times more likely to attend a worship service on Easter Sunday than other services. Barma’s researchers say 12 percent of the nation’s atheists and agnostics attended worship services on Easter Sunday in 1998. On a typical weekend, about 2 percent of atheists and agnostics attend Christian services.
The study also discovered that many of these individuals describe themselves incorrectly. Many atheists are actually agnostics – they believe in some type of deity, but are indifferent about the existence of a divine being. (A significant share of those people believes that humans actually possess the power or qualities of gods.) Likewise, many self-proclaimed agnostics are actually atheists – individuals who contend that there is no deity of any type.
Demographically, Barna’s research indicates that atheists and agnostics are dominated by men (64%), adults under 35 (51 percent), whites (71 percent) and residents of the Northeast and West (56 percent). College graduates are more likely than the norm to reject God (34 percent qualify as atheists or agnostics). Adults who say they are politically liberal were much more likely than conservatives to be atheists or agnostics. However, one out of every five non-faith adults were politically conservative.
George Barna, president of the company that conducted the research, said, “Church leaders need to understand this group better. They come from two divergent perspectives: those who are indifferent about God’s existence and those who doubt it altogether. Both groups, however, have many who are struggling to find meaning in life, to have significant relationships with other people, to influence the lives of others, and to live a moral life – the very types of issues that Christian churches strive to address. The better Christian ministries can help atheists and agnostics understand that the answers they are seeking are ultimately spiritual in nature, the more opportunities those ministries will have to enable them to find meaning through Christianity. Atheists and agnostics often have a dormant interest in faith, as evidenced by the three out of ten who say ‘religious faith is very important’ in their life today. The challenge is to make the Christian faith relevant, practical and comprehensible to them.”
The Barna Research Group, Ltd. is an independent marketing research company located in southern California. Since 1984 it has been studying cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. This research was funded solely by Barna Research as part of its regular tracking of attitudes, values and behavior.