As Sam Harris says, there is no word for not being an astrologer - so why is there a word for not being a theist?  Labelling people who don't believe in something does not make them members of a religion.  For atheism to be a religion, it would have to have some kind of philosophical position and some content - but it doesn't.  And the word itself can be applied to almost everyone - all religious people are atheists about everyone else's god.  I would go further than Harris and say that since almost everyone rejects parts of what their pastor, priest, imam says, then there are about as many religions and versions of god as there are people (see Custom religions).

Atheists are accused of being dogmatic and arrogant, just like religions are with their dogmas.  But for an atheist to be accused of being dogmatic for calling the bible ridiculous is the pot calling the kettle black - any Christian would say Zeus is ridiculous .  And "people of faith" claim humility while at the same time they claim to know more about cosmology, physics, chemistry and palaeontology than any scientist - talk about arrogance. I'd be more inclined to accept what people like Stephen Hawking say on Cosmology - he has never accepted creationism nor tried to reconcile his work with Genesis.

Most of us live in our own little world. Occupied as we are with our families, our friends, our jobs, our lives, we tend not to think very much about what is going on in the world at large. Some of us, of course, are in jobs that take us to other parts of the world, or we do volunteer work that may take us to other parts of the world. But in general, the great majority of human beings just try to live their lives the best they can and don't concern themselves very much with what goes on elsewhere.

A small few of us may remember that some years ago, in the late 1960s, there was a book with the title The Population Bomb, by Paul R. Ehrlich, that warned of mass starvation in the later decades of the twentieth century due to overpopulation. Ehrlich advocated immediate action to limit population growth. Another book around the same time, The Limits to Growth, also warned that there were limits to the number of human beings that the Earth could support.

A recent poll by Pew Forum shows that compared to 2005, the American public has a less favourable opinion of Muslims now – 30% favourable now compared to 41% favourable in 2005.  Their view that Muslims are more prone to violence dropped slightly from 38% to 35%.  However, 51% said the Islamic centre and mosque should not be built near the World trade Center compared to 34% who think it should be allowed.  Attitudes to Muslims depend on your age and political views. The older (and I say wiser!) you are, the less favourable;  41% of democrats view Muslims favourably but only 21% of republicans.