Poll shows ‘nones’ growing, Protestantism declining

The number of Americans who say they have no religious affiliation has hit an all-time high — about one in five American adults — according to a study released Oct. 9 by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Labeled “nones” because they claim either no religious preference or no religion at all, their ranks have hit 46 million people. Many of them are young people — one in three U.S. adults under 30 are now considered “nones.”

The report also found that the number of self-described atheists and agnostics has hit a peak — 13 million people, or 6 percent of the U.S. population. The number has risen 2 percentage points over five years.

And while the “nones” are growing Protestantism is on the decline, shrinking from 62 percent of the religiously affiliated in 1972 to 51 percent in 2010. The number of U.S. Catholics held steady at about 25 percent.

Still, claiming no religious identity does not mean an absence of religious beliefs, the report found.

The majority of “nones” — 68 percent, including some who say they are atheists — say they believe in God or some form of higher being. Half say they feel “a deep connection with nature,” and 20 percent say they pray every day.

Why do the “nones” continue to grow? Greg Smith, a lead researcher on the study, attributed it to the natural replacement of older, more conservative generations with younger, more liberal ones, as well as a worldwide rise in secularism among developed nations.

Another interesting twist to the study’s findings is how broad-based they are.

“The change is occurring among both men and women, those with college educations and those without, within several income levels and in all regions of the U.S.,” said Cary Funk, another lead researcher on the study. “The growth does tend to be concentrated among whites, with no significant change with blacks and Hispanics.” Geographically “nones” are most concentrated in the West and least concentrated in the South. 

The survey was conducted by analyzing material gathered by several organizations from 120,000 respondents between 2007 and 2012 and also from the General Social Survey, which has data dating to 1972.

(RNS)