The category "non-religious," which includes atheists, agnostics and secular humanists, is the world's third largest belief system, encompassing 1.1 billion people (See Adherents.com).
In the United States, the percentage of people identifying themselves as non-religious has doubled in the past decade to 14 percent (See UIC Study).
Many statistical studies have documented this loss of religious belief, as well as measured declines in religious belief systems in various countries, the relationship between higher IQ and less religiosity, and the less-religious tendencies of many scientists. The father of Relativity Theory, Albert Einstein, famously remarked about the idea of an afterlife, "Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms." - New York Times, 19 April 1955
Atheists disbelieve or deny the existence of gods, and agnostics are skeptical about the existence of gods. Secular humanist groups provide guidance on ethics, with human happiness and social justice as the larger goals. Secular humanists believe in joy, altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness and responsibility, not sin.
In books and websites, authors critique Biblical atrocities, unscientific teachings, inconsistencies and questionable guidelines. Christian and atheists online groups debate the Bible, religious history, ethics and other religious topics.
There are non-religious political groups, and there are also people of faith who share their goal of upholding the First Amendment and the separation of church and state.
