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Atheist in New York

By Marlene Naanes, amNewYork Staff Writer
More stories | MNaanes@am-ny.com

April 14, 2008

WHY I BELIEVE WHAT I BELIEVE "All atheism is is a conclusion that there's no supernatural. That's all it is. Atheists do what is right because it's right to do it, not because of fear. Our prime goal is separation of church and state. We don't want special rights for certain groups." -- Ken Bronstein, president of New York City Atheists

Number of Atheists in New York City, 2008: No official count. 400 members of New York City Atheists. About 2 percent of people in the New York Metro area consider themselves atheist, 2 percent are agnostic and 5 percent are secular, with no affiliation to a group, according to a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Affairs.

Notable facts:: Several groups either identify themselves as atheist or a significant number of their members identify with atheism although the groups focus on other issues. These groups include the New York City Atheists, Secular Humanist Society of New York, New York Society for Ethical Culture and New York City Skeptics. The New York City Atheists, an atheist activist group, have social "meet-ups" and other meetings and events each month. They also have three local cable shows.

Prominent Atheist: Madalyn Murray O'Hair. She helped to end prayer and bible verse recitation in public schools through a lawsuit, which with another suit, made it to the Supreme Court. In 1963, she founded the American Atheists.