ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about the extent of secularization in the US before showing how rising rates of atheism are a consequence of the secularization. It then describes how atheists are discriminated against and how atheists have responded to this discrimination through social organizing. The chapter suggests a positive outlook for the future: Though prejudicial attitudes against atheists are a social problem, there are good reasons to think such prejudice is slowly eroding in favor of tolerance. A rising level of literacy, science education and material quality of life are not the only reasons why religiosity has declined all over the Western world over at least the last 150 years. Religious nonaffiliation in general and atheism in particular are more common in societies with low poverty, war, criminal violence and disease. The formation of community insulates people from the discrimination and hostility they feel from others.
