Atheist hotline lures wavering believers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ( Christian Examiner) -- Secularists seeking community are quickly building an array of options including atheist churches and humanist chaplains. Now Americans and Canadians questioning their faith, religion and God can also call a toll-free hotline dedicated to exploiting disbelief.
Recovering from Religion, a national, non-profit secular organization created to appeal to individuals who have negatively suffered from faith or religion, launched a new "hotline" Friday to exploit doubts among Christians and other religious adherents and substitute secular activities for ministry and religious service.
The new hotline is designed to be a "beacon of hope" and offer reasssuarance to replace the "cold shoulder of rejection," claims Sarah Morehead, Executive Director of Recovering from Religion said in a press release announcing the hotline.
Morehead claims Recovering From Religion "gets calls and emails daily from people around the world struggling with the consequences of doubting their faith," saying these people risk losing marriage, children, jobs, friends or family "if their growing doubts are discovered."
The anonymous, real-time support network also caters to friends or family who face the transition, she said.
A 2012, Pew Research survey showed a record increase in the number of Americans who claimed not to identify with any religion. According to the data, one-fifth of the U.S. public, and one-third of adults under age 30 claimedno religious unaffiliation. Atheists make up 2.4 percent of the unaffiliated and 3.3 percent self-identified as agnostics.
Still, more than two-thirds, or 68 percent of the polled group said they believe in God and 21 percent claimed to pray every day.
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