Over the past decades in the United States, there has been a rise in the number of people claiming no religious affiliation, or “nones.” While this includes atheists and agnostics, these individuals are often distinguished from those who actively identify as such. “Nones” may be agnostic or atheist, but most have a theistic or deistic position (Pew 2024). What sets them apart from traditional theism is their non-identification with and non-participation in any kind of religious tradition.

To Christians especially, the rise of the “nones” is troublesome. Many “nones” are former Christians and we see Christianity waning in the US as the number of “nones” grows. However, I don’t see this as an unequivocal win for atheism. I think many people are leaving religion for what I would consider to be the wrong reasons. As I noted in my post on what I call gnostic apatheism, there are many people who simply don’t care about religion and don’t find religious questions relevant to their lives. While such people leave Christianity and its associated myths behind, they are not necessarily thinking more critically.

One criticism I can imagine is that spending time and energy on religious and philosophical issues is a luxury many people can’t afford. I don’t buy this however, due to the strong historical relationship between religion and poverty. People who are poor or have otherwise difficult lives aren’t typically too busy to think about religion; on the contrary, they are historically the most devout. If anything, the rise of the “nones” may be a sign of increasing privilege. For example, during the pandemic, Americans became more religious, not less so (Pew 2021).

Overall in my opinion it’s better for people to be irreligious than religious, but I see the majority of “nones” as being still easily susceptible to religion and superstition (e.g., because of their positive belief in a god). It’s similar to when a young-earth creationist becomes an old-earth creationist: yes, I would prefer people be old-earth creationists than young-earth creationists, but I still think old-earth creationists are profoundly incorrect.

Going back to my post on apatheism, I think “nones” can at times be more dogmatic in their apathy than religious people are in their faith. I find such people more difficult to talk to than devout Christians, who at least care about important questions.

References

Pew Research Center (2021). More Americans Than People in Other Advanced Economies Say COVID-19 Has Strengthened Religious Faith. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/01/27/more-americans-than-people-in-other-advanced-economies-say-covid-19-has-strengthened-religious-faith/

Pew Research Center (2024). Religious ‘Nones’ in America: Who They Are and What They Believe. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2024/01/24/religious-nones-in-america-who-they-are-and-what-they-believe/