UPFRONT March 15, 2010 Issue

FILLING THE VOID

INGRID PESCHKE, MANAGING EDITOR

Last year a nationwide bus campaign in England spread the word that there is no God. If you were travelling in London, you might have seen the slogan "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life" splashed across a red double-decker. The campaign was backed by the nation's most famous atheists.

According to the British Humanist Association, or BHA, between 30 and 40 percent of the population in Britain have nonreligious beliefs, with a higher figure, between 60 and 65 percent, in young people. Hanne Stinson of the BHA was quoted as saying, "People can lead a happy, enjoyable and rewarding life without religion."

A new Gallup poll showed that upward of about 15 percent of the American population, roughly 20 million Americans, are atheists. But exact numbers of atheists in the world seem hard to come by, complicated by the social taboo connected with coming out and making such a declaration, along with pinning down an exact definition of what atheism is. Is it doubting God's existence? Having no God at all? Having no religious affiliation at all?

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