Utah Atheists Get Positive Press

When even the local news in Utah is reporting that atheists are growing in number and does a positive story on them, you know things are going our way.

KUTV in Salt Lake City did a story on the American Religious Identification Survey, which stated that atheists are on the rise in every single state:

We often hear this country was built on a belief in God, but others say it is really built on the freedom to choose. More and more people in the United States are choosing no religion, and that is true here in Utah. Atheists meet weekly and hold more formal meetings on a monthly basis.

…

“I don’t believe there is a God,” said Joel Layton, president of Atheists of Utah.

“Having the opportunity to get out there and talk to people and not worry about what you say,” explained Lily Wilder as she sat with a group that represents a handful of Utah atheists who get together at Mestizo Coffeehouse in Salt Lake City every Thursday. The conversations vary but religion is a consistent topic and there is some religion bashing.

“I do believe the world would be better off if we never had religion,” said Layton. He started these gatherings and wants them to be relaxed to counter the formal atheist meetings that have been taking place monthly for decades.

“We don’t only discuss religion,” said long time atheist, Stephen Clark. “We discuss politics just as much.”

“Atheists are a very diverse group and they have lots of points of view within the atheist organization,” said John Cooper.

“The growing number of atheists is only because a lot more are willing to step up and say yeah, I don’t believe it,” said Layton.

Congratulations to the Atheists of Utah for the press coverage.

And they got it without atheist bus ads! Impressive.

(Thanks to Carole for the link!)