First things first: While atheists have a public image
of being dogmatic and belligerent—an image that
famous atheists like Bill Maher only end up
reinforcing—researchers found that to absolutely not
be true. Only 15 percent of non-believers even fit in
the category of those who actively seek out
religious people to argue with, and the subset that
are dogmatic about it are probably even smaller
than that. But that doesn’t mean that the majority
of non-believers are just sitting around, twiddling
their thumbs and not letting atheism affect their
worldview. On the contrary, researchers found that
the majority of non-believers take some kind of
action in the world to promote humanism, atheism
or secularism. Here is a breakdown of the types.
1. Intellectual Atheist/Agnostic. By far, the most
common kind of non-believer, at nearly 38 percent.
This group enjoys intellectual discourse, and while
they’re often very certain about their beliefs, they’re
not belligerent about it. These types often get
mistaken for dogmatic atheists, however, because
they have a tendency to join skeptic’s groups or
otherwise find avenues to discuss non-belief with
others. However, as researchers note, these non-
believers “associate with fellow intellectuals
regardless of the other’s ontological position,” so
long as their friends “versed and educated on
various issues of science, philosophy, ‘rational’
theology, and common socio-political religious
dialog.” They like debating religion, but aren’t
particularly interested in chasing down believers to
give them a hard time.
2. Activist. This group also gets commonly
accused of being dogmatic, but like the intellectual
atheist, while they’re firm in their beliefs, they’re
intellectually flexible and don’t prioritize attacking
believers. Instead, they are motivated by a strong
sense of humanist values to make change in the
world, often making related issues—such as
feminism, gay rights, or the environment—a priority
over simply advocating atheism. This group also
advocates for a better, more egalitarian atheist
community, according to researchers: “They seek to
be both vocal and proactive regarding current
issues in the atheist and/or agnostic socio-political
sphere." Because of this, they unfortunately attract
a lot of abuse from a small but vocal minority of
atheists who disapprove of linking secularism with
larger social justice issues, but they do have the
numbers on their side. They are the second biggest
sub-category of non-believers, making up 23
percent of non-believers.
3. Seeker-Agnostic. This group, which makes up
7.6 percent of non-believers, are unlikely to be as
critical of religion as most other groups. They
prioritize not-knowingness. If you ever come across
people saying, “I don’t know, but neither do you!”
regarding religious belief, you’re dealing with a
seeker-agnostic. They don’t really believe in
anything, but they are uncomfortable committing to
non-belief completely. They routinely get accused of
intellectual cowardice by atheists, but researchers
defend them, saying, “For the Seeker-Agnostic,
uncertainty is embraced.”
4. Anti-Theist. This group tends to get conflated
with all atheists by believers, but they only
constitute 15 percent of non-believers. Like the
Intellectual Atheists, they like to argue about
religion, but they are much more aggressive about it
and actively seek out religious people in an effort to
disabuse them of their beliefs. While most atheists
limit themselves to supporting a more secular
society, anti-theists tend to view ending religion as
the real goal. While plenty are aggressively angry,
researchers point out this isn’t necessarily a bad
thing: “For example, many of the Antitheist typology
had responded as recently deconverted from
religious belief or socially displeased with the status
quo, especially in high social tension-based
geographies such as the Southeastern United
States,” and being combative with believers might
help them establish their own sense of self and
right to non-belief.
5. Non-Theist. They don’t believe in any gods, but
don’t think about those who do very often. In such a
religious society, simply opting out of caring much
about religion one way or another is nearly
impossible, which is why this group is only 4.4
percent of non-believers. “A Non-Theist simply does
not concern him or herself with religion,”
researchers explain. In some skeptical/atheist
circles, this group is disparagingly referred to as
“shruggies," because they simply shrug when asked
their opinion on religion. However, some quite likely
are indifferent because they’re fortunate enough to
live in a bubble where belief doesn’t matter one way
or another.
6. Ritual Atheist/Agnostic . While you might think
the anti-theist is the non-believer type that scares
Christians the most, it turns out that it may very
well be the Ritual Atheist/Agnostic. This group,
making up 12.5 percent of atheists, doesn’t really
believe in the supernatural, but they do believe in
the community aspects of their religious tradition
enough to continue participating. We’re not just
talking about atheists who happen to have a
Christmas tree, but who tend to align themselves
with a religious tradition even while professing no
belief. “Such participation may be related to an
ethnic identity (e.g. Jewish),” explain researchers,
“or the perceived utility of such practices in making
the individual a better person." The Christian Post
clearly found this group most alarming, titling their
coverage of this study “Researchers: 'Ritual'
Atheists and Agnostics Could Be Sitting Next to You
in Church,” and giving the first few paragraphs over
to concern that people in your very own
congregation may not actually believe in your god.
The atheism, it seems, might be coming from inside
the house (of God).
While a lot of non-believers don’t really do much
when it comes to acting on their non-belief, for
those who are trying to create a more organized
atheist community that takes up activism and offers
community, there is plenty of reason to hope. The
Intellectual, the Activist and the Anti-theist all, to
one extent or another, discuss their non-belief with
others or let their non-belief have significant impact
on their activities. Taken together, they make up
nearly three-quarters of non-believers. That’s a big
group that has a lot in common, and perhaps that
energy could be harnessed as a force of good.
