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Americans overestimate the size of minority groups and underestimate the size of most majority groups (lemmynsfw.com)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Source: https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/41556-americans-misestimate-small-subgroups-population

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I think "atheist" carries the connotations of being irreligeous, not just not believing in any gods. So some people may not believe in any gods, but maybe they do have some kind of spirituality, or believe in ghosts or something. Buddhism as a religion doesn't mandate God-belief, though some schools do interact with devas. I'm unsure if any other religions don't require gods to work, but even if they exist, I imagine they and Buddhists, despite not believing in any gods, will be very hesitant to describe themselves as "atheist."

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 hours ago

According to the same research, 1% of US adults are Buddhist, and they fall in a separate cathegory.
All the polls are weird, and very much depending on how you ask the question and how you slice the data.
But you're right, the word atheist carries some baggage in a christian nationalist country, but that was kind of almost my point. So many people are afraid of the word atheist, but are "not religious, don't believe in any gods, don't follow any practices", which is, actual textbook definition of the word.