No they don’t have to be basic, but they do have to be chosen not to bias the result. Maybe you’ve seen too many of those fake polls that ask questions like “do you believe we should go into space for a wonderful future for mankind” or “do you support socialists taking over our government?” From the article, the poll in question was a lot more honest, and it seemed to drill down into the details of which god people believed in - there was a category for Wiccans, for example.
True, but the discussion is about secularism gaining ground, not atheism. And I believe that tolerant theists are just a step away from secularists, even if they don’t know it. Once it becomes clear that it’s ok to be have any belief system, it’s a pretty quick path to realizing that the details of any given religion are pretty arbitrary. If not for the tolerant theists, then for their children.
However, the problem with your prediction is that, IIRC, since the Enlightenment there’s always been one or two radical unbelievers predicting the end of religion in his/her/their lifetime(s), and yet the phenomenon endures. Forgive us old geezers for getting a bit cynical as we age.
“Secularism” was coined by James Holyoake in 1846:
“Secularity” is the general term for the state of being separate from religion. From Wikipedia:
mswas is mistaken in equating all secularity with state secularity. Our government is secular, but our culture is not, and neither is at all secularist.
