Another finding almost defies explanation: 21 percent of self-identified atheists said they believe in God or a universal spirit, with 8 percent "absolutely certain" of it.
Of course you skipped right over the part about the large number of self identified religious that had serious doubts.
I have never seen another survey that compares. I'd be interested to see exactly how they worded the questions, because you will usually see it the other way. People are much less likely to say they are atheists than they are to say they don't believe in a god.
Good numbers are impossible here. I've seen numbers that say just about anything.
But I really don't believe there is a god, and those people wouldn't be atheists.
On all of Yahoo! Answers maybe. R&S is so small and would not provide an accurate basis to base such percentages on. I personally believe that all surveys and statistics reagarding religion are skewed because people lie and stretch the truth. There are more atheists than are accounted for and more agnostics probably.
It is possible to believe in the concept of 'God' without accepting traditional religious thought streams.
We can acknowledge something omnipotent and omnipresent without conforming to the idea of personification.
Atheism in itself is fast becoming a religious belief with its own merit. It is gaining more credibility and acceptance amongst forward thinking people.