By: Dr. Jerry Bergman
Montpelier, Ohio
The word atheist means “not theist”; “A” is the Greek word for “not” and “theist” is Greek for “God.” Many people in the United States avoid the emotionally laden term atheist and use the term “secularist,” which is often synonymous with the term atheist.
A study by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) found that those reared in an atheist-secularist household are least likely to maintain their religious beliefs as adults.
Only about 30 percent of those who grow up in an atheist or secularist household remain atheists as adults.
Of the 1,387 respondents in the survey, 432 were reared in an atheist household, and of these only 131 still self-identified as atheist as adults. This retention rate was the lowest of the 20 separate religious categories researched.
Of those reared as atheists, 30% are now affiliated with a Protestant denomination, 10% became Catholic, 2% Jewish, and 1% Mormon. It is obviously challenging for a child reared as an atheist to retain that identity as an adult.
The next lowest retention rate was holiness churches (32% stayed with the church), followed by Jehovah’s Witnesses (37% stayed ). Of those who grew up in no particular religious faith, only 37% remained religiously unaffiliated.
The highest retention rate was Hindus (84 %), followed by Jews (76%), Muslims (76 %), Greek Orthodox (73 %), Mormons (70 %), and Catholics (68 %).
Of Protestants, Baptists had the highest retention rate (60%), followed by Lutherans (59%) and Pentecostals (50%). The study used the data collected in the highly respected 2008 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life’s “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey.”
This study is limited because it looks at self-identification only. Many people self-identify as a Christian not because they are active Christians, or even believe in Christianity.
They accept this designation because they know they are not a Jew, a Hindu, or a Muslim, thus must be a Christian. Furthermore, anyone who labels themselves as part of some Christian denomination is at least a nominal or cultural Christian.
Nonetheless, despite its limitations, the study is significant because it shows how many people openly reject the atheist, holiness, and Jehovah’s Witnesses designations. Many of these people now see themselves as simply Christians.
This study accepted the atheist category as a religion because both Christianity and atheism are worldviews that attempt to answer the same questions, namely where humans came from, why we are here, and where we are going when we die.
The atheist worldview (also called the secular worldview) answers these questions as follows: Where did humans come from?: We evolved due to mutations producing genetic variety that was selected by natural selection;
Why are we here?: To reproduce and survive; and, Where are we going when we die?: When we die, we die, and that is the end of us.
The theistic worldview’s answers to the same questions are: We were created by God to live forever on Earth; We are here to serve God and our fellow man; When we die, if we have accepted God’s Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior, we have the hope of a resurrection and everlasting life with our Creator.
Although by law, enforced by over 200 court decisions, public schools must teach only the secular (actually atheist) worldview (religion). For this reason, no small number of Americans accept this worldview, and for this reason, the secularists’ view is growing.
Nonetheless, this worldview does not conform to the reality observed in the natural world. As one young man observed, “The miracle of the birth of my daughter forced me to reject the atheist worldview.”
Google AI wrote: “The experience of witnessing the birth of a child, and the profound sense of wonder and amazement that can accompany it, can indeed be a catalyst for personal reflection and spiritual exploration, even for those who initially identify as atheists.
Some may find that the birth of a child, viewed as a “miracle” or a testament to the power of life, leads them to reconsider their previous worldview.
This personal experience can spark a shift in one’s perspective and lead individuals to question the boundaries of what is understood as natural or possible, potentially leading to a greater openness to the possibility of a higher power or spiritual significance.
Other persons studied human anatomy and concluded that the most complex structure in the universe, the human brain, demands an intelligent creator (a topic I have authored an entire book on, titled Science is the Doorway to the Creator).
They also have a difficult time believing that, in the long term, ultimately “nothing created everything” as taught by evolution (i.e., the Big Bang substitute for “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the Earth”).
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Dr. Jerry Bergman has taught biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology for over 40 years at several colleges and universities including Bowling Green State University, Medical College of Ohio where he was a research associate in experimental pathology, and The University of Toledo. He is a graduate of the Medical College of Ohio, Wayne State University in Detroit, the University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University. He has over 1,800 publications in 12 languages and 60 books and monographs. His books and textbooks that include chapters that he authored are in over 1,500 college libraries in 27 countries. All 60 of Bergman’s books are on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other bookstores.
