UK: do not believe in a god to be 40% ... 5% of the US population feel that a god does not exist

Atheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "

Atheism in the United Kingdom

A poll in 2004 by the BBC put the number of people who do not believe in a god to be 40%[10], while a YouGov poll in the same year put the percentage of non-believers at 35% with 21% uncertain.[11] In the YouGov poll men were less likely to believe in god than women and younger people were less likely to believe in god than older people.

In early 2004, it was announced that atheism would be taught during religious education classes in the United Kingdom.[12] A spokesman for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority stated: 'There are many children in England who have no religious affiliation and their beliefs and ideas, whatever they are, should be taken very seriously.' There is also considerable debate in the U.K. on the status of faith-based schools, which use religious as well as academic selection criteria.

Many prominent Britons are atheists, including scientists and philosophers such as Richard Dawkins.
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Atheism in the United States

A Gallup poll in 2005 showed 5% of the US population feel that a god does not exist.[13] A poll in 2004 by the BBC showed the number of people in the US who don't believe in God to be larger, at 10%.[10]

Atheists are ostensibly legally protected from discrimination in the United States. They have been among the strongest advocates of the legal separation of church and state. American courts have regularly, if controversially, interpreted the constitutional requirement for separation of church and state as protecting the freedoms of non-believers, as well as prohibiting the establishment of any state religion. Atheists often sum up the legal situation with the phrase: 'Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.'[14]"