CV NEWS FEED // A recent Pew Research Center (PRC) survey examined trends of the nation’s religious “nones,” Americans who identify as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular,” and found varied results as to whether they think religion does “more harm than good in society.”
The PRC report published on January 24 also investigated how the “nones” view topics such as morality, science, and spirituality, as well as how their participation in civic life differs from religiously-affiliated persons.
PRC reported that among non-religiously affiliated Americans, or “nones,” 17% “identify as atheist, 20% say they are agnostic and 63% choose ‘nothing in particular.’”
Results were mixed when PRC asked “nones” about their view of religion. “Some ‘nones’ have a very negative view of religion, but ‘nones’ on the whole express mixed views rather than outright hostility,” PRC reported:
Most say religion causes a variety of problems in society – like intolerance or superstition. But many “nones” also say that religion helps give people meaning and purpose, and that it can encourage people to treat each other well.
Overall, 43% of “nones” say religion does more harm than good in society, while 14% say it does more good than harm; 41% say religion does equal amounts of good and harm.
“Nones” who identify as “nothing in particular” are less likely to participate in volunteer work and voting than their religiously-affiliated neighbors, the PRC survey found. In contrast, “atheists and agnostics turned out to vote in 2022 at rates rivaling those seen among religiously affiliated adults.”
PRC added that whether a religiously-affiliated person actually attends a religious service regularly makes a difference in how much he or she participates in civic life.
“[On] some measures, attendance at religious services (not religious affiliation alone) is the key differentiator between people who are most civically involved and those who are not,” PRC reported:
For instance, religiously affiliated people who attend religious services at least once a month volunteer at much higher rates (41%) than both religiously affiliated people who don’t attend services regularly (17%) and “nones” (also 17%).
In other words, on some measures, it’s not whether a person identifies with a religion (or not) but whether they actively take part in a religious community that best predicts their level of civic engagement. In short, the link between religious disaffiliation and civic engagement is complicated.
Based on the PRC data, the concept of being “spiritual but not religious” applies to many “nones.”
“[Not] all ‘nones’ are nonbelievers,” PRC highlighted in the January 24 survey report. “They are far less likely than religiously affiliated Americans to say they believe in God ‘as described in the Bible,’ but most do believe in God or some other higher power. Just 29% reject the notion that there is any higher power or spiritual force in the universe.”
“About half say spirituality is very important in their lives or say they think of themselves as spiritual,” PRC reported. “Most ‘nones’ believe animals other than humans can have spirits or spiritual energies – and many say this is true of parts of nature, such as mountains, rivers or trees.”
While many “nones” believe in God or some higher power, they gave varied reasons for not affiliating with a religion.
“The reason ‘nones’ give most often for not having a religion is that they question religious teachings: 60% say doubt about these teachings is an extremely or very important reason why they are nonreligious,” PRC reported in a separate article:
In addition, 32% cite a lack of belief in God or any other higher power. Altogether, 67% cite skepticism or nonbelief (or some combination of both) as a key factor in why they are nonreligious.
More than half of all “nones” think there are some things science cannot explain, and they are also more likely to have a positive view of science than their religiously-affiliated neighbors, PRC found. Fifty-six percent of “‘nones’ say science does more good than harm in American society, and on average ‘nones’ are much more positive about science than are religiously affiliated people.”
When asked about how they view morality, the “vast majority of ‘nones’ say it is possible to be moral and have good values without believing in God,” PRC stated, adding that “82% of ‘nones’ say logic and reason are extremely or very important when they decide between right and wrong.”
