Steven Greydanus is Dismantling "Religulous"

Hey, stop by ArtsandFaith.com and check it out: Steven Greydanus is dismantling Religulous, exposing the falsity of some of Bill Maher’s claims in the film. I’d recommend starting with this post, in which Greydanus begins with a question from Peter Chattaway:

Chattaway:

… I do have one question: Does anybody here have any insights into Maher’s claim that 16% of the American public — a bigger chunk of the population than Jews, blacks, gays, or NRA members — is non-religious? Does that simply mean that 16% of the population is unaffiliated with any particular religion (which would leave open the possibility that they are still spiritual or even religious in a non-affiliated way)? Or does it mean that 16% of the population actively reject belief in God etc.? I ask because Maher tells this 16% of the population to shed its “timidity”, and to speak up the way all those other, smaller segments of the population do — and I am wondering if this 16% is really as solid a bloc as he implies it is.

Greydanus replies:

No.

The presumptive source is the recent, massive study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which found that 16 percent of the population has no religious affiliation — not no religious belief.

The same study found that Americans are nearly unanimous (92 percent) in saying they believe in God. Only about four percent of Americans self-identify as “atheist” or “agnostic.”

Wait, it gets better. According to the study, over half of self-identified “agnostics” and over a fifth of “atheists” say that they believe in God or a universal spirit. “Atheists” and “agnostics” in double digits also believe in heaven and hell, pray at least weekly, believe that abortion should be illegal in most cases — and believe that “values are threatened by Hollywood.”

And he goes on from there, with even more simple debunking of Maher’s errors and falsehoods…