that's certainly are one of the atheists so tell me what atheism has to offer for us because religion they say. not only impacts the the social lives of people but also impacts the economics of the u.s. and there's been multiple studies saying that that's religion does have a direct tangible effect on the economy expression in developing nations can you talk about that well sure religion has the effect because it's given the opportunity to have an effect it's not the only thing that has an effect and when you look at the way religion works in america i mean you mention mitt romney being the first mormon president potentially being the first mormon president the mormon church just spent twenty million dollars to stop other people from getting married they spent their own money to enforce their religious beliefs on non mormons we find this repugnant we find this disgusting and no this is not useful and yes it is immoral so what we're seeing here is taking credit for being for bringing in good morals while totally disassociating itself from the responsibility that it has of letting peopl

and many atheists today are fearful of coming out because of that discrimination. and because of the fact that they very well may lose friends or family members, they may be shunned. >> many people of faith may be troubled by the findings in our survey. for instance, three quarters of all the nones say they were raised in religious homes. very few of them say they are seeking a church that is right for them. they seem quite content to remain unaffiliated. indeed, for people in any age group, the percentage of unaffiliated when they are young remains the same as they get old. >> i think that if i have children, i think that's the same thing that i would like to teach them is that religion is important, being spiritual is important. what's not as important is to join and to go every week. >> however people interpret our survey, greg smith insists the results are snapshots, not predictors. >> while the number of religiously unaffiliated people is growing, it's also true that the vast majority of americans continue to be affiliated with a religion, and that's even true

you say there are 2 billion christians, but there are 50 million in france who are atheists. the catholic church has a billion catholics in the world. >> we will not get stuck on the statistics. >> there are muslims the to the practice. there are very few muslims have become a deists, much more rare than christianity and judaism, but there are some. there are some that are lax in their practice. do we call the muslim or not? do we only tell people that go to mosques? in essence, it is nebulous. just in the washington area, we have several hundred thousand. in the new york area, several million. i know that from knowledge of the mosques, leaders of the islamic community. in the los angeles area, easily over 1.5 million in the orange county and los angeles county. added together, very soon it will be much more than 3 million. i think it is around 7 million people. >> perception, reality, or myth? there is a war against islam. >> all three are true at the same time. certain people in the west are trying to carry out a war against islamic religion. in the old days, when is mum wa

the humanist community at harvard is a home for non-believers, including atheists and agnostics, who do believe you don't need god to be good. >> the more important question to me, though, is not whether you can be good without god but what it means to be good in a world in which we don't have a god to tell us what to do or to help us when we need help. what it means to take care of each other, what it means to be there for one another, what it means to live an ethical life when this is the only life that we have. we're coming up with a new kind of community here to meet what is in a lot of ways a new kind of need. >> reporter: it's a need that's especially evident on campus. younger americans make up the largest group of the unaffiliated. some grew up un-churched. >> religion just wasn't a part of our lives. i was baptized, but it was more just a reason to get the family together and after that, we never really went back. >> reporter: chris stedman found religion on his own and joined an evangelical church, but soon after, he discovered he was gay and eventually left. >> the grand i

well first of all as you may know i'm a political atheist i don't i don't believe i don't believe in these you know political gods nor do i bow down to them and when you look at the data coming in this is probably one of the least exciting elections that i've ever witnessed in my lifetime and what people will be doing and that's why the cover of the trends journalism as it is they're going to be voting for a lesser of two evils when you look at all of their what you're talking about they're not really talking about policy they're whether it's economic policy a foreign policy is just an attack game and so what the people are going to end up with regardless of who they vote for is more of the saying the only question that will arise that the end was. will be who will destroy the nation the slow and. well i guess that does then become a key issue doesn't it you know we've talked about this before many times gerald this kind of two headed monster or politicians you know is two sides of the same coin but one thing that struck me and your trends journal that's coming out soon is that you s

atheist, zero. eric? >> eric: okay.s mistake. but vice president, vice president joe biden makes the mistake. watch behind him, senate majority leader harry reid raising his hand two times. watch. >> how many of you know someone who served in iraq or iran? how many of you know someone who has been injured or lost in iraq or iran? at some point you think they say joe, just stay home. >> bob: what is the big deal? >> eric: served in iran? >> bob: i must have missed that. >> andrea: how many people at this table know someone in north korea? have you been there? >> bob: i have not been there. am i next? >> andrea: yes. >> bob: okay. i want to show you a picture of a house here in california. see how you relate to it. this is the newly built house of governor mitt romney. one of his six houses that he has. or something like that. it's a mansion that is, you know, something i'm sure that the middle class can relate to. more important -- can you stop right here? see the elevator for this garage right here? most of you drive yo

are younger saying they're atheists. because there's been a culture shift. it's now okay to say you're an atheist or you have no religious preference. but let me walk you through this. of those people who said they have no religious preference, a full 68% of them still said they believed in god. that's a big number. 68% said they still believed in god. 37% said they were spiritual but not religious, something we hear an awful lot. and 20% of those folks said they pray every day. >> it looks like we've run out of time, but i wanted to get specifically believing in god. and crafting a god that you can believe in if there are no organized religious rules. eric, thank you very much for that. we're back now to roswell, new mexico. felix baumgartner about to go up. scheduled for 1:40 his ascent to 23 miles above the earth. where he is going to jump out of a capsule wearing a pressurized suit and helmet. we're told that it weighs about 100 pounds and he's going to head up to try to break the sound barrier using nothing but his

atheist group got involved and basically sued and said you can't do this.ou can't write religious phrases or verses saying it's something school sponsored, but it's not. it was the individual. >> the atheists are like the nfl replacement refs. oh, shut up. >> they're haters. >> don't be so mean to the refs. >> i'm in a one more thing deficit this week. everything i've come up with is not a good one. you've got a book. but this is cool, which is that fox won the ratings war last night in the cable news race and a total o

do you think there are more out there that are just afraid of the atheist label?t sure it was atheism i saw. i saw between 18 and 30 years old, that was the largest group of nonaffiliated people, i have three sons that are in that age group. and it is kind of like religion is not inclusive enough for them. i feel badly about eating at chick-fil-a after what was said, right, because when you hear stuff like that, that is not what my bible taught me, you know, the one umbrella, all inclusive. if you think back, there were reasons in the pibible for slavery, for women not having position, for only white males able to own land, i think it is foolish to organize religion, not to wake up and go, we better be more inclusive or people like my sons or children that are coming up are not going to join an organized religion. they're not going to be atheists, it is going to be personal, you know, they're going to have their personal beliefs. >> that does that mean, though? talking about your own children, they fit this age range, they want that all encompassing -- i won't say

. >> bill: you are a socialist, you are atheist, too.ou. >> i didn't say atheist i said ago not stick. >> bill: when you die that's not going to cut it go hey how are you doing? he is going to go hey. >> do you think if i utter in the box with me in it oh god, god help me, save me, do you think i will be out of my mind enough to do that? >> bill: i don't know. >> i don't think so. >> bill: i think god a big mary tyler moore plan you may be all set. >> god worshipers love mary tyler moore. you are handsomer than ever. age does not wither those wonderful bones. >> bill: it's just botox. >> is that it? well, that's what got this. [ laughter ] >> laura: okay. up next, a preview of next week's presidential debate. so can barack obama rebound from his dreadful performance in denver? we'll be back >> mitt romney continues to surge in the poll's after last week's debate. a brand-new rasmussen survey, among likely voters in florida shows the governor leading, 51-47. in virginia, romney leads 49-47. with us to analyze the polling and to preview ne

the enemy is muslim, christian, atheist, hindu, jew. he is our collective face, our evolution, the devolution, the ripening of long injustices. thank you. the next poet is michael palmer. >> what of that wolf hound at full stride. what of the woman that serves as fairl guide and witness to the snowy hive? what of the singer robed in red and frozen at mid-song? and the stone, its brokenness, or the voice oft seen that says note the dragon seen but asking no questions of flight, no questions of irridescence, what of that century, did you see it pass? what of that wolf hound at your back? and then a poem that is for mahmud darlish called the dream of narcissus. the dream of narcissus, that there would be a silence loud as time. the dream of the writer that there could be a silence loud as time, the dream of time that rest might come, the dream of rest, that unrest might arise. the dream of the palm, the pilgrims would enter the village. the dream of the village, that they depart with their palms and the house dreaming of his leveling and t

one in five say they are nothing in particular, agnostic or atheist. an 8% jump since 1990. >>> the mars curiosity rover has been digging up soil sampleless. now nasa wants to find out if a bright object found on the ground is part of the vehicle or something more. >>> and this is what happens when a large group of mostly intoxicated people take on a bull in columbia. amateur mattadors got into the ring and tried to show the bull who was boss. >>> one of the things trending on nbc.com, people have found it's possible to be too clean. a study done over the summer found that amish children raised on farms were less likely to develop allergies and asthma. a child's immune system were stronger at fighting off allergies. researchers advise using good old soap and water instead of overusing hand sanitizers. >>> and now here's an early hook at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow dropped 29 points, the s&p was down 5 and the nasdaq dropped 23. in overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei dropped 93 points but in hong kong the hang seng gained 112.

nearly one in five say they are nothing in particular, agnostic or atheist. that's an 8% jump since 1990. >>> the mars curiosity rover has been digging up soil samples, but now that work is on hold because nasa wants to find out if a bright object spotted on the ground is part of the vehicle or something more. >>> and this is what happens when a large group of mostly intoxicated people take on a bull in colombia. amateur matadors got into the ring and tried to show the bull who was boss. not too successfully. 19 were hurt. >>> here is an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow dropped 26 points yesterday. the s&p down five. the nasdaq lost 23. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei assembled 93 points. in hong kong the hang seng gained 112. stocks have been on a strong run, but right now earnings and europe's on going debt drama are threatening markets' momentum. just this morning, chancellor angela merkel arrived in greece to show solidarity. many greeks blame germany to deep cuts attached to its internationa

a pugh research center/pbs survey found that 1 in five religions have no -- atheists and ding -- agnostics make up 6%. the poll found those who no longer identify with a leriel es ' rim lon are not looking for a new one. what is behind the surge? the head of the catholic university, theology joins us now. i hope i got your nam right. >> you did. >> what do you so is behind this? is the economy playing a role and people are losing faith? >> i don't think so. i so it as a wave or reaction to things that happened 20 years ago when one more -- when more traditional views, conservative views within the church reacted against the '60s. and this is now a sort of a count reaction. i really see three major elements that play a role into the results. the first is actually a mere factual observation and that is that christian families be, being either protestants or catholics because we're beat christians, they don't make as many babies as they used to. of course, the percentage is changes and it changes from generation to generation. sec, it's also the continuous growth of individualism. in modern s

. >> the tradition in boy scouts, even though i'm an atheist, it wasn't a problem for me. so the boy scouts need to conform. >> reporter: late thursday, the boy scouts released a statement saying -- >> reporter: his mother fought back through an organization called change.org. she started a petition, which now has over 112,000 supporters. she wrote a letter saying her son was denied eagle scout status because he came out to his friends and family as gay. this comes after he just completed his final boy scout project, a tolerance wall promoting a bully free campus at his former middle school. >> for me personally, i didn't see this controversy coming. >> reporter: are you disappointed he was denied his eagle scout status? >> very surprised. >> reporter: the executive director for the national center of lesbian rights says she's not surprised. she says by law the boy scouts of america has the right to deny him due to his sexual orientation because it's a private institution. but -- >> it is wrong to say that someone who is honorable, who did everything that was required to b

nearly one in five say they are either nothing in particular or atheist.jump since 1990. >>> the mars curiosity rover has been digging up soil samples. now that work is on hold because nasa wants to learn if a bright object spotted on the ground is just part of the vehicle or something more. >> this is what happens when a large group of mostly intoxicated people take on a bull in colombia. amateur matadors got in the ring and tried to show who the bull was boss. 19 people were hurt. here's the first look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. "the washington post" reports that during the recession, most members of congress did different financially than the average american. the regular folks back home saw their household net worth drop 39% for 2007 to 2010. the lawmakers in congress gained 5%. >>> republican vice-presidential nominee paul ryan was being interviewed in detroit when he objected to the reporter's question about gun violence and taxes. and then the interview came to an abrupt end. take a look. >> those are yours, not mine. >> thank you

ancient myths and rituals stories - and both starhawk and margot adler - came out of intellectual, atheistic, radical jewish families. they are, in a sense, the contemporary flowering of judaism, in the sense that they are returning to very ancient roots, that old rock upon which all the world's religions, i believe, have been based. >> now which changes not. >> huh? >> now which changes not. >> ah, yes. >> well, the jewish tradition, in other words, is fulfilled in both margot adler and starhawk - they're both jewish. >> yes. >> that's the point i made. >> yeah, and i think that does also fit - back with judaism, we were talking about different interpretations of the genesis story, the alienation story, and i love your myth about leaving the fires, leaving it and going out and becoming, so that more relationship could happen, more interaction could happen, and you can see it in that form. do you know what we wanted to do? well, i'll tell you. we actually thought a good way of perhaps illustrating what's going on here is to actually have a short ritual, and we've invited - perhaps if you'd l

local chapter sent us a statement saying in part, the boy scouts of america does not allow gays or atheists. >>> looking for chunks that fell from the sky? you're not alone. some stargazers are looking for evidence of the streaking fireball that lit up the sky last night. jodi hernandez takes us on a meteor hunt. >> i look, whether or not i find it and get to keep, it's still the adventure of finding it, and the adventure of learning about it. >> raymond spent the afternoon scouring the hills of martinez, looking for signs of last night's meteorite. he found a pile of rocks that piqued his interest. not exactly an extra treterrest jackpot. everyone who saw it was left in awe. >> it was spectacular. one of the brightest things i've ever seen in the sky. >> it looked like the trajectory was going to take it over toward fairfield. >> we think it may have landed in the martinez hills. >> the space center astronomy teacher speculates the meteorite may have landed near martinez. others say it probably ended up much further north. >> even if the area you think it fell in was just a few miles acros

and agnostic or atheist 20- percent. pandas are celebrating their one-month birthday. the cubs were born at the giant panda breeding base in southwest china. the twin babies have been breastfeeding the whole first month. that's helped them gain weight and improved their immune systems. since the babies must be fed in turns.. the breeder uses honey to distract the mother panda's attention, and takes the baby out of her arms when she finishes feeding her cub. then the second baby is given to the mother. the nursing period usually lasts two or three months. [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multi-vitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has more of 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. we sure had a good time. you see a lot of familiar faces that he met over the airhope he me over the years. look at these clubs. clouds. a beautiful shot. he was fishing. look at the fall colors with lake michigan.than

pew poll indicated one in five americans has no religion and more and more americans are becoming atheists is america losing its religion and if so why this week let's talk about that i think as we get smarter we realize all the religions with the same you look at each different book every book has a similar story. it's all the same we're on one planet there should be one war doesn't matter if you're in pakistan or new jersey i see more people that maybe keep to themselves i mean you can be religious without going to a sanctuary or something along those lines so i think the perception has probably changed i just got baptized last year everybody has their own way of coming to their beliefs but for us it was just you know we're getting older and you know we're getting closer to those they say the pearly gates. but we're grose was insurance you got baptized for insurance purposes. believe what you want to believe but don't force it on other people or use it for you know things that hurt other people is that what it is is that people see organized religion as something detrimental to other peo