An atheist is someone who does not believe in God. This does not include people who believe that God is evil, not interested in them or that they do not need to be interested in him/her. Demon worshippers, spiritualists, anyone who reckons that there is something out there is not an atheist. I would therefore argue that America is not atheist and actually there are a lot more atheists in some parts of Europe. . . The rise of atheism in the west is due to Enlightenment which happened a couple hundred years ago. Basically, it introduced a way of thinking that argued that if something could not be proved them it should not be believed. This has become the core belief in the West both amongst religious and non-religious people (you will hear a lot more preached about logically understanding than God now than you ever would have). It is also from this way of thinking that students are taught to argue with and disagree with their teachers and books. This is the key skill we are taught in art based subjects in univeristy. Due to this people do not believe what they are taught either by teachers, politicians or religious leaders (this is why we are so fond of conspiracy theories) and this means that people tend to pick a religion for themselves made up of little bits and pieces that don't belong to any religions. Some people class these people as atheists.. . In highly religious countries in the east religion is linked in with culture and family. In the West this was similar with Christianit until the Reformation happened. The Reformation sought to return Christianity to its roots and taught people that the choice whether or not to believe was up to them. Parents or leaders could not make the decision for them. This happened at the same time as the Enlightenment and so people were told to believe for themselves and think for themselves. There was also a lot of divides in Christianity at this time so it was easier for people to just keep their heads down and not join any fanantical group.. . In Europe atheism really saw a rise during the time of the First World War as people were really disillusioned with God.. . I don't think that mixed ancestary has anything to do with it! Beliefs don't change with race!. . Opulence can take the necessilty of thinking about death and therefore God daily but the roots of atheism in the West go a lot deeper.. . Search for either Enlightenment or Reformation on the web - I'm sure you'll find it enlightening!