There is a rising number of atheists in the United States. Here are some key facts about atheists in the U.S. and around the world.
Atheists and agnostics know more about religion than most other religious groups, while those with no particular religion are among the least knowledgeable.
The religiously unaffiliated were harassed by governments, private groups or both in 23 countries in 2017, up from 14 the previous year.
While Slovakia is majority Catholic, around seven-in-ten Czechs are religiously unaffiliated – the highest share of unaffiliated adults in 34 European countries surveyed.
Most American adults identify with a religion, describing themselves as Protestants, Catholics or Jews, to name just a few examples. But a new Pew Research Center analysis looks at beliefs and behaviors that cut across many religious identities, producing a new and revealing classification, or typology, of religion in America that sorts U.S. adults into seven cohesive groups.
Six-in-ten religious "nones" in the U.S. say the questioning of religious teachings is a very important reason for their lack of affiliation. The second-most-common reason is opposition to the positions taken by churches on social and political issues.
Nine-in-ten Americans believe in a higher power, but only a slim majority believe in God as described in the Bible
Most U.S. adults now say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values, up from about half who expressed this view in 2011.
About a quarter of U.S. adults now say they think of themselves as spiritual but not religious, up 8 percentage points in five years.
Though the percentage of religiously "nones" in America has risen, the global share of religiously unaffiliated people is expected to fall in coming decades.
