The U.K. has had several hundred years to "ditch the dogma" Give it chance it's on the rise....

Well it's lush here in Blighty even though it's parky outside! To try and answer the question we don't have the equivalent of a bible belt like our friends in America do. I imagine the bible belt somehow gets stuck in the psyche when it doesn't actually need to. So, when it comes to announcing atheism it seems harder than it really is. These are just my thoughts. if I think of anything else I might post it. Toodle-pip for now (Ha Ha!)

Pip-pip and Bernard's your uncle.

I remember a line from Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones' "One Night Stand" - the two of them doing their usual dialogue bit.

"I don't believe in God, heaven and hell, and all of that rubbish."
"Oh, I didn't realise you were Church of England."

The UK Anglican movement is, by and large 'Christianity Lite.' All of the flavour, only a tiny fraction of the calories. It has a "Believe what you want to believe. We're here for you if you want us" kind of an attitude, rather than the usual "Convert and do as we say, or burn in the fiery pit for eternity" one. And when your primary religion isn't obsessed with recruiting and breeding new, totally obedient followers, your society gets an opportunity to detach religion from everyday life. I believe the UK has a decent balance whereby most people respect each other's beliefs, but don't expect everyone else to live by their faith's moral code. That puts us in a position to detach religion from politics and law. Meanwhile, in the US, anti-abortionist politicians will happily stand up and say that if the rape of a 14 year old girl results in pregnancy, then that rape must have been God's will. A UK politician will be laughed out of a job for saying that gays are responsible for bad weather.

As with most closets, it's all about cultural norms, daring to deviate from them, and the perceived shame that you bring to your family when you do. The cultural norm in the UK is that your religion (or lack thereof) is nobody's business but yours. The cultural norm in the US is that religion is key to your acceptance by your community, with a good chance of being ostracised by those whose faith you choose not to follow. In the UK, I reckon this is largely down to the CofE's 'no pressure' attitude. If Catholicism or Islam had a stronger hold, then things might be very different.

Well me old mukka. Firstly the stats you have quoted are a little misleading. Whilst I am sure that the facts you are stating are verified, I am sure that other studies show different results. A recent study by the Richard Dawkins Foundation showed that the majority of us Brits (for the first time) did not associate themselves with a religion. But I still agree with you. It does appear that it is a bigger deal for the yanks to say those words than for us. Its not always the case mind, as I am certain that there are many people in the muslim community who are closet athiestS. Just watch 'exposure-islams non believers' on youtube. It is not always that easy to be open about a lack of faith in this country.

I am hopeful that we shall see a bigger decline in believers over in the US. A decade or so ago there was a big survey in the US about who people found the most and least trustworthy. They had all sorts of groups of people that they could vote on, Lawyers, nurses, Doctors, Jews, Christians etc. In last place (deemed the least trustworthy) were murderers, in second to last place it was a draw between rapists and athiests. Read that last sentance again and let it sink in. Since then whilst athiests over there still get a bit of a hard time, there has been changes and more people are now becoming more confident about speaking openly about athiesm. The more it is talked about the more, the more it is understood, and it is then more likely to be a viable option for people to choose.

I say old chap you are going to create another Tea Party with the first part of your question ... that is for the Americans to answer not you pommy bunch of colonising half breeds!

Jolly hockey sticks! I guess we are are more reserved here and keep our thoughts to ourselves, which is why the polls get it wrong with elections. We don't respond well to people telling us what we should think or do - we've had a millennia of that and are very weary of it.