The Attitudes of Deconverted and Lifelong Atheists Towards Religious Groups : The Role of Religious and Spiritual Identity

Abstract

Increasing atheism, or the view that there is no God, is a major trend affecting the Western religious landscape. Scholarly interest in atheists has grown together with their number, but unanswered questions abound. In this study, we present survey data (N = 758) collected from deconverted and lifelong atheists in four countries (Australia, Finland, Germany, and Norway), and investigate the relationships between deconversion, religious identity, spiritual identity, and interreligious attitudes. We show that retaining a low level of religious or spiritual identity is more typical for deconverts than life-long atheists. Furthermore, we demonstrate that higher religious or spiritual identity among deconverts is associated with more positive attitudes toward different religious groups (national religious majority, religious minorities in general, and Muslims specifically).