A closer look at America’s rapidly growing religious ‘nones’

[cbayer]

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/13/a-closer-look-at-americas-rapidly-growing-religious-nones/

MAY 13, 2015

BY MICHAEL LIPKA



Religiously unaffiliated people have been growing as a share of all Americans for some time. Pew Research Center’s massive 2014 Religious Landscape Study makes clear just how quickly this is happening, and also shows that the trend is occurring within a variety of demographic groups – across genders, generations and racial and ethnic groups, to name a few.

Religiously UnaffiliatedReligious “nones” – a shorthand we use to refer to people who self-identify as atheists or agnostics, as well as those who say their religion is “nothing in particular” – now make up roughly 23% of the U.S. adult population. This is a stark increase from 2007, the last time a similar Pew Research study was conducted, when 16% of Americans were “nones.” (During this same time period, Christians have fallen from 78% to 71%.)

Overall, religiously unaffiliated people are more concentrated among young adults than other age groups – 35% of Millennials (those born 1981-1996) are “nones.” In addition, the unaffiliated as a whole are getting even younger. The median age of unaffiliated adults is now 36, down from 38 in 2007 and significantly younger than the overall median age of U.S. adults in 2014 (46).

Religious Affiliation by GenerationAt the same time, even older generations have grown somewhat more unaffiliated in recent years. For example, 14% of Baby Boomers were unaffiliated in 2007, and 17% now identify as “nones.”

more at link

[trotsky]

1. Whoa - percentage of US adults identifying as atheists has DOUBLED.

In just seven short years. That is amazing.

Among the "nones," there's a 6-point drop in those who say religion is still important to them.

The times, they are a-changin'.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. Interesting.

I just wish that the people who get true comfort and peace from their religion were not overshadowed by the fundies who have taken over, or used, politics.

[cbayer]

3. I wish that everyone could let everyone else just be who they are.

I think part of the rise in the atheist/agnostic group is due to an increasing acceptance of being a non-believer.

And I suspect some of the loss in the mainline churches is due to an increasing discomfort with being a christian when the fundies appear to dominant.

I hope we are moving towards a time when "i'm OK, You're OK, as long as you are not stepping on my toes".