analysis<\/a>. \u201cIn 2022, our estimate of 31 percent was 3 percentage points higher, while the 29 percent we recorded in 2021 was just 1 point higher. We haven\u2019t found any readings below 28 percent in the past five years. \u2026 Soon, with more data in hand, we\u2019ll be in a better position to judge whether the 2023 estimate marked a turning point for the \u2018nones\u2019 or was just a blip on the way to continued growth.\u201d<\/p>\nAmong Americans who are included in this category of \u201cnones,\u201d 17 percent identify as atheist, 20 percent as agnostic and 63 percent as nothing in particular.<\/p>\n
Additionally, 69 percent of \u201cnones\u201d say they believe in the biblical God or a higher power (13 percent say they believe in the God as described in the Bible, while 56 percent say they believe in an undefined higher power).<\/p>\n
“Just 29 percent reject the notion that there is any higher power or spiritual force in the universe,\u201d Pew said. \u201cMost \u2018nones\u2019 say they were raised in a religion, usually Christianity. Yet today, they tend to be disconnected from religious institutions. Not only have they shaken off religious labels, they also have largely shaken off involvement in churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n
About 90 percent of \u201cnones\u201d say they seldom or never go to religious services.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Pew found that \u201cnones\u201d are less likely to volunteer and vote, with 17 percent of them saying they volunteered in the past year (compared to 27 percent of the religiously affiliated) and 39 percent saying they voted in 2022 (compared to 51 percent of religious Americans).<\/p>\n
\u201cLower levels of civic engagement tend to be found especially among \u2018nones\u2019 who describe their religion as \u2018nothing in particular\u2019–not among atheists and agnostics,\u201d Pew said. \u201cFor example, atheists and agnostics turned out to vote in 2022 at rates rivaling those seen among religiously affiliated adults. Those who describe their religion as \u2018nothing in particular\u2019 were the only subset of \u2018nones\u2019 with lower voter turnout than religiously affiliated people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Photo Credit: \u00a9GettyImages\/avemario<\/span><\/p>\n\nMichael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press,\u00a0<\/em>Christianity Today<\/em>, <\/em>The Christian Po<\/em>st, <\/em>the\u00a0<\/em>Leaf-Chronicle<\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>the Toronto Star<\/em> and\u00a0<\/em>the Knoxville News-Sentinel<\/em>.<\/p>\nLISTEN: How United Should the Global Church Be?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
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