Difference between revisions of "Nones (religion)"
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| − | These projections, which take into account demographic factors such as fertility, age composition and life expectancy, forecast that people with no religion will make up about 13% of the world’s population in 2050, down from roughly 16% as of 2010. | + | {{cquote|These projections, which take into account demographic factors such as fertility, age composition and life expectancy, forecast that people with no religion will make up about 13% of the world’s population in 2050, down from roughly 16% as of 2010. |
This is largely attributable to the fact that religious “nones” are, on average, older and have fewer children than people who are affiliated with a religion. In 2010, for instance, 28% of people who belong to any of the world’s religions were younger than 15 years old, compared with just 19% of the unaffiliated. And adherents of religions are estimated to give birth to an average of 2.6 children per woman, compared with an average of 1.7 children among the unaffiliated.<ref>[http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/03/why-people-with-no-religion-are-projected-to-decline-as-a-share-of-the-worlds-population/ Why people with no religion are projected to decline as a share of the world’s population], Pew Research. April 3, 2015</ref>}} | This is largely attributable to the fact that religious “nones” are, on average, older and have fewer children than people who are affiliated with a religion. In 2010, for instance, 28% of people who belong to any of the world’s religions were younger than 15 years old, compared with just 19% of the unaffiliated. And adherents of religions are estimated to give birth to an average of 2.6 children per woman, compared with an average of 1.7 children among the unaffiliated.<ref>[http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/03/why-people-with-no-religion-are-projected-to-decline-as-a-share-of-the-worlds-population/ Why people with no religion are projected to decline as a share of the world’s population], Pew Research. April 3, 2015</ref>}} | ||
Revision as of 17:27, September 22, 2015
Nones do not subscribe to an organized religion such as Christianity or Judaism[1]
Contents
Nones and the moniker of spiritual, but not religious
Nones often declare that they are spiritual, but not religious.[2] Social science data indicates that that the spiritual but not religious are more vulnerable to mental disorders.[3]
Research also shows that atheists are more prone to depression/suicide and are also more prone to having lower social skills (see: Atheism and depression and Atheism and suicide and Atheism and social/interpersonal intelligence).
Nones are expected to drop as a percentage of the world's population in 21st century
Pew Research declared:
| “ | These projections, which take into account demographic factors such as fertility, age composition and life expectancy, forecast that people with no religion will make up about 13% of the world’s population in 2050, down from roughly 16% as of 2010.
This is largely attributable to the fact that religious “nones” are, on average, older and have fewer children than people who are affiliated with a religion. In 2010, for instance, 28% of people who belong to any of the world’s religions were younger than 15 years old, compared with just 19% of the unaffiliated. And adherents of religions are estimated to give birth to an average of 2.6 children per woman, compared with an average of 1.7 children among the unaffiliated.[4] |
” |
Atheists attempting to falsely inflate their numbers via the nones
See also: Atheism and deception
The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) found that only 0.7% of U.S. adults identified as atheist, but at the same time 2.3% said there is no such thing as a god.[6] The reluctance of Americans to self-identify as atheists is likely due to the American public's low opinion of atheists (See: Americans have a low opinion of atheists).
Although some American atheists like to claim the "nones" or "no religion" on religious surveys as one of their own, fewer than 15% of the "nones" consider themselves atheists.[7]
The atheist Georgetown University professor Jacques Berlinerblau declared concerning American atheists attempting to falsely inflate their numbers:
| “ | American atheist movements, though fancying themselves a lion, are more like the gimpy little zebra crossing the river full of crocs. In terms of both political gains and popular appeal, nonbelievers in the United States have little to show. They are encircled by cunning, swarming [religious] Revivalist adversaries who know how to play the atheist card. The gimpy zebra remark was a little goofing on this over-the-top chest-thumping that emerges from Movement Atheists. They wildly overestimate their numbers. They tend to overestimate the efficacy of their activism. They underestimate how disciplined and organized their adversaries in the religious right are, too. They fail to recognize that mocking religious people in public is entirely inimical to the goals they wish to achieve."[8] | ” |
Nones and poor survey design
Research shows that a significant amount of American nondenominational church members are checking "unaffiliated" or "no religion" on surveys.
Based on research done by Baylor University, a February 2011 article entitled Good News about Evangelicalism declares:
| “ | Nondenominational churches, almost exclusively evangelical, now represent the second-largest group of Protestant churches in America, and the fastest growing section of the American religious market...
This trend has affected popular statistics and has also served to exaggerate the loss of religious faith and evangelical influence in America. Most previous research missed a new phenomenon: that members of nondenominational churches often identify themselves on surveys as unaffiliated or even as having “no religion.” Because traditional surveys do not provide categories that adequately describe those who attend nondenominational congregations, their members often check “unaffiliated” in typical surveys and questionnaires... Similarly, claims that Americans, including evangelicals, are falling away from the faith contradict seven decades of survey research confirming that only 4 percent of Americans are atheists.,, ...We found no statistically significant difference between younger and older evangelicals on other moral and political issues, however. Younger evangelicals were, in fact, sometimes more conservative than their elders. ...The number of evangelicals remains high, and their percentage among practicing Christians in America is, if anything, rising.[9] |
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See also
External links
- The “Nones” and the “Buts” by Peter L. Berger, The American Interests, May 6, 2015
- Nondenominational/evangelical Christians are checking "None" or "No religion" on surveys by Byron Johnson, First Things, February 2011
- Commentators say Pew survey overestimates decline
- Pew: Religious "Nones" Tend to Be Undereducated, Poor, White Males
References
- ↑ Meet the 'Nones:' Spiritual but not religious
- ↑ Meet the 'Nones:' Spiritual but not religious
- ↑ Study: People Who Are ‘Spiritual’ But Not ‘Religious’ ‘Are More Vulnerable to Mental Disorder’
- ↑ Why people with no religion are projected to decline as a share of the world’s population, Pew Research. April 3, 2015
- ↑ Professor Jacques Berlinerblau tells atheists: Stop whining!, Christian Century, Sep 14, 2012 by Kimberly Winston
- ↑ Barry A. Kosmin and Ariela Keysar, [1], March 2009, American Religious Identification Survey [ARIS 2008], Trinity College
- ↑ Meet the 'Nones:' Spiritual but not religious
- ↑ Professor Jacques Berlinerblau tells atheists: Stop whining!, Christian Century, Sep 14, 2012 by Kimberly Winston
- ↑ Good News about Evangelicalism, First Things
