{ { Infobox religious group
|image = Bez boga, bez gospodara v1.svg
|caption = "Without a god, without a master", slogan of atheistic campaign from 2009 |group = Irreligious Croatians |population = Population in Croatia: 3,871,833Not religious or spiritual: 247,510 (2021) |regions = Istria County, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Zagreb, Split-Dalmatia County |langs = |rels = |related-c = }}Irreligion in Croatia' pertains to atheism, agnosticism, and lack of religious affiliation in Croatia. Even though the 2011 census showed that only 4.57% of Croats considered themselves irreligious, Gallup polls conducted in 2007 and 2008 found that 30.5% of respondents did not consider religion important in their lives. The Japanese research center, Dentsu, conducted a survey in 2006 concluding that 13.2% of Croats declare themselves irreligious, compared to the 7% found by a 2010 Eurobarometer survey across Europe.
Evidence suggests irreligion is the fastest growing religious status in Croatia. The number of agnostics and skeptics rose by more than 20 times in the last ten years, while the number of atheists almost doubled. The increase in agnosticism is also attributed to public figures declaring themselves agnostic, such as President Ivo Josipović. Several irreligious organizations were founded in the 2000s, such as Protagora, David, Glas razuma - Pokret za sekularnu Hrvatsku, Nisam vjernik. They organized public actions such as the "Conference of reason" and campaign "Without a god, without a master".
History
In the 19th century, irreligion in Croatia was associated with anti-clericalism in politics and modernist literature. Croatian nationalists, such as Ante Starčević, Eugen Kumičić, Stjepan Radić, and, Antun Radić advanced these anti-clerical ideas and were major proponents of secularism among the Croatian people. Despite many of them being Catholics themselves, they believed in liberal religious freedoms and feared that ties with the Catholic Church hampered the nation's desires of independence from Austria-Hungary. Writers such as Antun Gustav Matoš advocated similar beliefs.
Translations of Charles Darwin's writings first became available in Croatia in 1869, prompting a shift in the debate on irreligion to focus on Darwinism. Irreligion was seen as closely aligned with the concept, and Darwinism was seen as a major aspect of irreligion in Croatia. The role of Darwinism in Croatian irreligion, particularly in regards to education, persists into the 21st century.
Following World War II, Croatia became the Socialist Republic of Croatia as part of socialist Yugoslavia. Following the Communist takeover, state atheism was imposed. The Constitution of Yugoslavia nominally guaranteed religious freedom, but religious groups were repressed and irreligion was enforced. Following a period of liberalization toward religion in the 1960s, debate over religion took place in the context of Communism, where irreligion was advocated by supporters of Communism and religion was advocated by critics of Communism.
Irreligion in Croatia grew during the period of Communist rule, and it fell rapidly following Croatian independence from Yugoslavia. In 1953, 12.5% of Croats identified as irreligious. This number rose to 18% shortly before Croatian independence in 1989, and it fell to 4% in the 1991 census. Following the reintroduction of Catholicism into mainstream discourse in Croatia, an increase of discrimination against the irreligious has been observed, particularly in schools and government activity.
Although a connection between religion and political preferences has not been rigorously studied, irreligion is prevalent in recent Croatian politics. Five out of six recent Croatian presidential elections resulted in presidents who declared themselves irreligious. Ivica Račan, 7th Prime Minister, Zoran Milanović, 10th Prime Minister and 5th President of Croatia, Many public figures are self-declared atheists: Vesna Pusić, former First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Milanka Opačić, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Policy and Youth, Šime Lučin, former Interior Minister, MP Marija Lugarić. Some prominent leaders of New Atheist activist organizations, namely Neven Barković from Nisam vjernik, publicly expressed support for US-led intervention against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in 2013.