Interesting facts about self-described “Atheists”…

Interesting facts about self-described “Atheists”… March 15, 2017

…according to the Pew Religious Landscape Survey from 2008:

Atheists” can be surprisingly religious

15% believe in God or a “universal spirit”
6% believe in a God with whom you can have a relationship
19% are formal members ofreligious congregations
14% attend religious services at least yearly
5% are involved incongregational activities monthly
10% pray at least weekly outside religious services
21% believe miracles happen today
39% have talked to other people about their ideas of God

Important to keep in mind if you are having a conversation about your faith in Jesus with somebody calls himself or herself an atheist.  That term can be mighty fluid.  Often an “atheist” does not mean “I don’t believe in God” but “I don’t believe in the God my dad or my pastor or my abuser believed in or is associated in my mind with.”  Or they may mean some other thing.  It’s worth listening to their story.  As Bishop Barron often points out, the god an atheist does not believe in is often the god Catholics don’t believe in either.


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