Atheists in America: Investigating Identity, Meaning, and Movement

221 Pages·2017·1.14 MB·English

University of Colorado, Boulder
CU Scholar
Sociology Graduate Theses & Dissertations Sociology
Spring 1-1-2013
Atheists in America: Investigating Identity,
Meaning, and Movement
Jesse M. Smith
University of Colorado at Boulder, [email protected]
Follow this and additional works at:https://scholar.colorado.edu/socy_gradetds
Part of theSocial Psychology Commons, and theSociology Commons
Recommended Citation
Smith, Jesse M., "Atheists in America: Investigating Identity, Meaning, and Movement" (2013).Sociology Graduate Theses &
Dissertations. 28.
https://scholar.colorado.edu/socy_gradetds/28
This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Sociology at CU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sociology Graduate
Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CU Scholar. For more information, please [email protected].
Atheists in America:
Investigating Identity, Meaning, and Movement

By

Jesse M. Smith
B.S., Utah Valley University, 2005
M.A., University of Colorado, 2009

A Doctoral Thesis Submitted to the University of Colorado at Boulder
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Sociology
2013
This dissertation entitled:
Atheists in America: Investigating Identity, Meaning, and Movement
written by Jesse Max Smith
has been approved for the Department of Sociology

_______________________________
Dr. Leslie Irvine (Chair)

_______________________________
Dr. Patricia Adler

________________ ___________
Dr. Lori Peek

_______________________________
Dr. Isaac Reed

_______________________________
Dr. Stewart Hoover

Date: April 5, 2013

The final copy of this dissertation has been examined by the signatories, and we
Find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards
Of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline.
IRB protocol # ___0608.2_____

Smith, Jesse Max (Ph.D., Sociology, Department of Sociology)
Atheists in America: Investigating Identity, Meaning, and Movement
Dissertation directed by Associate Professor Leslie Irvine
Abstract
This study is a multi-year ethnographic investigation of self-identified atheists in America. The
formation of atheist identities, the management of the deviant status of atheism, the collective
identity and social movement aspects of atheist organizations, and the meaning of atheism both
socially and for its adherents are the substantive and empirical topics analyzed in the following
pages. Qualitative methods including in-depth interviews with forty-five self-identified atheists,
extensive participant-observation with atheist groups, and textual analysis of a variety of
document sources are the means by which this study was carried out. As qualitative research in
this area is still in its beginning stages, this study is meant to make both a methodological and
theoretical contribution to the study of contemporary American atheists.
Guided primarily by the framework of symbolic interactionism, and taking insights from
sociological social psychology and the literatures on identity, the self, deviance, social
movements, and the sociology of religion, I describe the key processes at play within the
construction of both personal and collective atheist identity. I argue that these identities are
accomplished in and through meaningful social interaction. I also analyze how atheists
individually and collectively manage the stigma of atheism, as well as illustrate the importance
of organizational dynamics for constructing, negotiating, and maintaining meaningful selves in
an increasingly complex and globalizing society.
iii
Acknowledgements
There are several people, who without their help and guidance throughout, this research project
would not have been possible. First, I would like to thank my advisor, Leslie Irvine for her
excellent feedback on my writing, her ideas about what to do with my research interests, and
both her patience and willingness to answer my nearly endless questions about everything
academic throughout my graduate career. Second, I must give credit to Patrick O’Brien for
suggesting early on that I turn my interest in irreligion – and our many conversations about it –
into a sociological examination of atheists. Additionally, Patricia Adler’s feedback on my
research from start to completion was an invaluable asset. Likewise, the support and guidance of
doctoral committee members, Lori Peek, Stewart Hoover, and Isaac Reed contributed to the
successful completion of this work. And finally, I would like to thank my spouse, Katie Smith,
for her ongoing support of my academic pursuits, and for allowing me to spend more than
handful of years working toward my goal of a doctoral degree in sociology.
iv
Table of Contents
Title page ......................................................................................................................................................
Signature page .............................................................................................................................................
Abstract ...................................................................................................................................................... iii
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................. iv
Chapter I: Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter II: Theory and Literature ................................................................................................ 13
Chapter III: Studying Atheists ......................................................................................................... 28
Chapter IV: Becoming an Atheist in America: Constructing Identity and Meaning
from the Rejection of Theism ................................................................................... 52
Chapter V: The Social Deviance of Atheism: Negotiating Cultural Membership with a
Stigmatized Identity ..................................................................................................... 78
Chapter VI: Creating a Godless Community: The Collective Identity Work of
Contemporary Atheists ............................................................................................ 121
Chapter VII: The Social Meaning of Atheism ............................................................................... 158
Chapter VIII: Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 176
References ............................................................................................................................................... 201
Appendix A: Demographic Characteristics of Participants ............................................................... 214
Appendix B: Institutional Review Board Information and Study Approval Document ................ 215

v
Chapter One: Introduction
This research project is the result of a multi-year ethnographic sociological study of American
atheists. Through an interpretive framework, and using interactionist and social psychological
insights, this study analyzes the social interactions, organizational dynamics, and subjective life
experiences and behaviors of atheists. The substantive sociological “domains” of this research
include identity, the self, social movements, social deviance, and the social and interactional
aspects of contemporary American atheism. Before moving to the theoretical and substantive
empirical chapters, I first outline below the research questions and goals of my study, discuss my
personal interest in it, and offer clarification regarding the context and parameters of my
research, including relevant definitions, and the use of terms.

Purpose and Goals of the Research

This study aims to show that the current qualitative understanding of atheists is only in its
beginning stages. I seek to outline a set of useful and relevant research questions, and tentative
answers, from which to build a more general sociological and interactionist theory of the
irreligious. Atheism itself is only one of several instantiations of the broader sociological concept
of “irreligion.” It is also arguably its most instructive, for reasons that will become clear. At the
most basic level, my goal is to heed the early, but largely unanswered call, by Colin Campbell
(1972), that sociologists take the idea of irreligion seriously. Like Campbell, I argue that
irreligion should be studied in its own right, and not merely as an “aberration” from the much
more thoroughly studied concept of religion. My study is an effort to help develop a literature
that will expand our qualitative understanding of those who reside within this category. The
inverse is also true: understanding irreligion can cause us to rethink and possibly add insights to
our sociological understanding of religion and belief.
1
The increase in the public’s interest in, and conversation about, atheism, in the first
decade of the 21st century, and the growing awareness of atheism generally (see “atheism in the
media” below), are, in part, the result of broader public discourses and debates concerning
religion and irreligion, belief and unbelief, and the legitimacy and role of science and religion in
our understanding of ourselves in the modern world. These are old questions and debates, to be
sure, but they also have a new character and frequency. The rapidly changing and globalizing
world, the development of new technologies, and the evolving global-political landscape, has
renewed basic questions about who we are and what we should become. What may have been
considered “settled” questions by some, have once again become central questions in our public
discourse. The “old” philosophical and fundamental questions of the origins of the world, and of
ourselves, the nature of the cosmos and reality, the question of morality and moral authority, far
from being settled, have resurged at the individual, social, and political levels. The question
about the existence of the supernatural, and about the reality of a God or a supreme being,
continue to permeate the collective consciousness, and have become pubic questions with
political consequences.
This suggests that atheism is an important contemporary social issue to which the public
(regardless of which “side” they are on) expresses interest and concern. This reality itself
warrants more scholarship on atheists. But as Gervais, Shariff, and Norenzayan (2011:1203)
accurately observed in their study of atheists, “the boisterous debate [about atheism] in popular
cultural [has] overshadow[ed] the tremendous potential that the scientific study of atheism – and
reactions to atheism – may hold for scientific understanding of the diversity of prejudice and the
psychological, cultural, and evolutionary underpinnings of religion.” To their list I would add
sociological as well. This is indeed part of my motivation for the current study. The larger point
2
here is that we have much to gain from the social scientific study of atheists, because in addition
to learning about atheism itself, we stand to gain further insight into the nature of religion and
belief. As Bainbridge (2005:22) puts it, “By learning more about the lack of faith, we can
understand better the role of faith in modern society.” Since so much social science research
literature has hitherto dealt with the subject of religion, it seems especially the case now, in the
context of the growing non-religious community, for social scientists to cease ignoring the latter.
This is the basic justification for the current study. In combination with the other substantive
sociological themes of my research (identity, self, deviance, and social movement – discussed in
detail in chapter two), I will show that an examination of atheists is timely, relevant, and has
potential to increase our understanding of other generic and broader social issues.
Moreover, this study shows the contemporary relevance of ethnographic research on an
often ignored, dismissed, and sometimes marginalized, yet sociologically important and growing
segment of the American population. As there is not yet a well-developed literature dealing with
the inter-personal lives of American atheists, I work here toward an original foundation for an
understanding of both the individual and collective identity processes involved in the formation,
adoption, and management of an atheist identity. Additionally, and more broadly, I contribute to
a more complete conceptualization of the nature of identity formation generally, and aid the
understanding of the identity choices people make in the context of an increasingly complex
contemporary American religious (and non-religious) setting. I use the existing literature on
stigma and stigma management, in order to flesh out the details of how atheists negotiate cultural
membership in an American “theist” society. Moreover, I aim to develop an understanding of the
sociological processes of organized irreligion and non-belief by using ideas from social
movement theories and organizational behavior to examine the group dynamics of atheist
3
communities. Finally, the major objective of this study is to make a meaningful empirical and
theoretical contribution to the sociology of religion/irreligion literature, and impel greater
scholarly interest in the subject of irreligion, atheism, and other forms of non-belief, discourse,
and practice in the American context.

Personal Experience and Interest
The primary motivating factor underlying my research interest in atheism involves my own
religious upbringing and personal background. I was brought up in the Mormon Church and in a
decidedly Mormon community in Utah. My family was very committed to this faith, and this
reality was reflected in the direction my own life took into adulthood. For instance, at age 19 I
embarked on a two year mission for the church in Alaska, and shortly thereafter, married in a
Mormon temple. During this time I remained committed to the church and continued to be an
active participant in its many activities. Religion was central to my understanding of myself, and
it shaped not just my beliefs, but my general perspective on the world, my choices, and lifestyle.
Though I was unaware of it at the time, my own religious identity would become
important in determining the direction of my intellectual development and scholarly interests.
This aspect of my biography has shaped my academic interest in irreligion. Soon after meeting
what is one of the highest goals in the Mormon religion – participation and marriage in a sacred
temple ceremony – I began to experience serious doubts about the Mormon Church and the
beliefs I had taken for granted. But it was not until I left home for graduate school that I began to
engage these doubts thoroughly. I eventually came to reject Mormonism, and take up a more
critical view of religion, and beliefs involving the supernatural generally. Thus, my own identity
process (moving from a highly salient religious identity, to a non-religious identity) became the
basic source of my interest in this project. I provide further relevant specifics about my own
4