About Bob Expertise I can answer just about any question that you may have about Atheism itself, dealing with being an Atheist in a religous world, or theological, religion based questions concerning atheism.
Experience I became an Atheist at the age of 15 and have remained so for the past 21 years. At that time I was the only Atheist that I had ever met so I spent the next several years researching most types of religion as well as the concept itself. I am not here to convert or argue, but just to help you find the path that is right for you.
Question -------------------------
Followup To
Question -
What percentage of people in the US do not believe in an afterlife?
Answer -
Hello Tom,
This is not the usual type of question that I'm asked, not that I mind, it's just that I am unsure of any concrete data on this. My guess would be that around 20 to 25% of the population does not actually believe in an afterlife. Of that 25% I would guess that around 8 to 12% would be actual Atheists. As I stated, those figures are just a guess but I believe that I would be pretty close on that.
If you really need accurate figures let me know and I will see if I can't narrow that down for you.
Bob
Thanks Bob. I would like to find a more precise figure if possible. I've seen surveys in the past that provide a figure for the percentage of people that do believe in an afterlife. I seem to recall that the figure is in line with your sense of it, about 80-90%, therefore some 10-20% that don't.
Thanks in advance,
Tom
Answer Hello Tom,
The Gallop organization has taken a poll within the United States and several countries worldwide that reveal the percentage of the associated population that believed in the following topics.
1) Percentage Saying "I know God exists and I have no doubts about it"
2) Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "Life after Death,"
3) Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe "The Bible is the actual word of God and it is to be taken literally, word for word,"
4) Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "The Devil,"
5) Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "Hell,"
6) Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "Heaven,"
7) Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "Religious Miracles,"
8) Ranking of 21 Nations on Knowledge Question about Human Evolution,
I will include the actual rankings but I have found a good reference to this study at www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/bishop_19_3.html
along with a good write up by George Bishop
*** This did not convert very well but the last number you see is the ranking number amoung those countries listed.***
The first number in each column is the percentage that believes in the question*****
Table 1. Percentage Saying "I know God exists and I have no doubts about it" by Nation in the 1991 International Social Survey
Percent Rank
Philippines 86.2 1
Poland 66.3 2
United States 62.8 3
Northern Ireland 61.4 4
Ireland 58.7 5
Italy 51.4 6
Israel 43.0 7
Hungary 30.1 8
Austria 29.4 9
New Zealand 29.3 10
West Germany 27.3 11
Netherlands 24.7 12
Great Britain 23.8 13
Slovenia 21.9 14
Norway 20.1 15
Russia 12.4 16
East Germany 9.2 17
Table 2. Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "Life after Death," by Nation in the 1991 International Social Survey
Percent Rank
United States 55.0 1
Northern Ireland 53.5 2
Ireland 45.9 3
Poland 37.8 4
New Zealand 35.5 5
Philippines 35.2 6
Italy 34.8 7
Norway 31.6 8
Netherlands 26.7 9
Great Britain 26.5 10
Austria 24.8 11
West Germany 24.4 12
Israel 21.9 13
Russia 16.8 14
Slovenia 11.6 15
Hungary 10.6 16
East Germany 6.1 17
Table 3. Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe "The Bible is the actual word of God and it is to be taken literally, word for word," by Nation in the 1991 International Social Survey
Percent Rank
Philippines 53.7 1
Poland 37.4 2
United States 33.5 3
Northern Ireland 32.7 4
Italy 27.0 5
Israel 26.7 6
Ireland 24.9 7
Slovenia 22.3 8
Hungary 19.2 9
Austria 12.7 10
West Germany 12.5 11
Norway 11.2 12
Russia 9.9 13
New Zealand 9.4 14
Netherlands 8.4 15
East Germany 7.5 16
Great Britain 7.0 17
Table 4. Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "The Devil," by Nation in the 1991 International Social Survey
Percent Rank
United States 45.4 1
Northern Ireland 43.1 2
Philippines 28.3 3
Ireland 24.8 4
New Zealand 21.4 5
Italy 20.4 6
Poland 15.4 7
Netherlands 13.3 8
Norway 13.1 9
Great Britain 12.7 10
Israel 12.6 11
Russia 12.5 12
Austria 11.1 13
West Germany 9.5 14
Slovenia 6.9 15
Hungary 4.2 16
East Germany 3.6 17
Table 5. Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "Hell," by Nation in the 1991 International Social Survey
Percent Rank
United States 49.6 1
Northern Ireland 47.9 2
Philippines 29.6 3
Ireland 25.9 4
Israel 22.5 5
Italy 21.7 6
Poland 21.4 7
New Zealand 18.7 8
Russia 13.0 9
Great Britain 12.8 10
Norway 11.4 11
Netherlands 11.1 12
Austria 10.0 13
West Germany 9.3 14
Slovenia 8.3 15
Hungary 5.8 16
East Germany 2.6 17
Table 6. Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "Heaven," by Nation in the 1991 International Social Survey
Percent Rank
Northern Ireland 63.7 1
United States 63.1 2
Ireland 51.8 3
Philippines 41.9 4
Poland 38.6 5
New Zealand 32.2 6
Italy 27.9 7
Great Britain 24.6 8
Israel 24.0 9
Norway 23.0 10
Netherlands 21.1 11
Austria 20.1 12
West Germany 18.2 13
Russia 14.7 14
East Germany 10.2 15
Slovenia 9.5 16
Hungary 9.4 17
Table 7. Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "Religious Miracles," by Nation in the 1991 International Social Survey
Percent Rank
United States 45.6 1
Northern Ireland 44.2 2
Ireland 36.9 3
Italy 32.9 4
Philippines 27.7 5
Austria 27.4 6
Israel 26.4 7
New Zealand 23.1 8
Poland 22.7 9.5
West Germany 22.7 9.5
Russia 18.7 11
Norway 17.8 12
Great Britain 15.3 13
Slovenia 13.4 14
East Germany 11.8 15
Netherlands 10.2 16
Hungary 8.2 17
Table 8. Ranking of 21 Nations on Knowledge Question about Human Evolution, 1993 International Social Survey
Nation Rank Mean * % Correct *
East Germany 1 1.86 81.6
Japan 2 1.89 81.0
Czech Republic 3 2.04 77.6
West Germany 4 2.08 72.7
Great Britain 5 2.18 76.7
Bulgaria 6 2.28 60.9
Norway 7 2.43 65.0
Canada 8.5 2.45 67.5
Spain 8.5 2.45 64.2
Hungary 10 2.50 62.8
Italy 11.5 2.51 65.2
Slovenia 11.5 2.51 60.7
New Zealand 13 2.54 66.3
Israel 14 2.66 56.9
Netherlands 15 2.67 58.6
Ireland 16 2.70 60.1
Philippines 17 2.75 60.9
Russia 18 2.80 41.4
Northern Ireland 19 2.99 51.5
Poland 20 3.06 35.4
United States 21 3.23 44.2
Well I hope this helps. Feel free to write again.
Bob
