{"id":12850,"date":"2016-08-24T10:00:24","date_gmt":"2016-08-24T15:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/why-americas-nones-left-religion-behind\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:18:06","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:18:06","slug":"why-americas-nones-left-religion-behind","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2016\/08\/24\/why-americas-nones-left-religion-behind\/","title":{"rendered":"Why America\u2019s \u2018nones\u2019 left religion behind"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"'Super<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Photo
(Photo by Raymond Boyd\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n\n

Perhaps the most striking trend in American religion in recent years has been the growing percentage of adults who do not identify with a religious group<\/a>. And the vast majority of these religious \u201cnones\u201d (78%) say they were raised as a member of a particular religion before shedding their religious identity in adulthood.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

As part of a new survey<\/a> connected to our broader Religious Landscape Study<\/a>, we asked these people to explain, in their own words, why<\/em> they no longer identify with a religious group. This resulted in hundreds of different responses (after all, everyone\u2019s religious experience is a bit different), but many of them shared one of a few common themes.<\/p>\n\n

About half of current religious \u201cnones\u201d who were raised in a religion (49%) indicate that a lack of belief led them to move away from religion. This includes many respondents who mention \u201cscience\u201d as the reason they do not believe in religious teachings, including one who said \u201cI\u2019m a scientist now, and I don\u2019t believe in miracles.\u201d Others reference \u201ccommon sense,\u201d \u201clogic\u201d or a \u201clack of evidence\u201d \u2013 or simply say they do not believe in God.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

But there are other reasons people give for leaving behind their childhood religion. One-in-five express an opposition to organized religion in general. This share includes some who do not like the hierarchical nature of religious groups, several people who think religion is too much like a business and others who mention clergy sexual abuse scandals as reasons for their stance.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

A similar share (18%) say they are religiously unsure. This includes people who say they are religious in some way despite being unaffiliated (e.g., \u201cI believe in God, but in my own way\u201d), others who describe themselves as \u201cseeking enlightenment\u201d or \u201copen-minded,\u201d and several who say they are \u201cspiritual\u201d if not religious.<\/p>\n\n

One-in-ten religious \u201cnones\u201d who say they were raised with a religious affiliation are now classified as \u201cinactive\u201d religiously. These people may hold certain religious beliefs, but they are not currently taking part in religious practices. And most of them simply say they don\u2019t go to church or engage in other religious rituals, while others say they are too busy for religion.<\/p>\n\n

Religious \u201cnones\u201d are by no means monolithic. They can be broken down into three broad subgroups: self-identified atheists, those who call themselves agnostic and people who describe their religion as \u201cnothing in particular.\u201d Given these different outlooks, it is not surprising that there are major gaps among these three groups when it comes to why they left their childhood religion behind. An overwhelming majority of atheists who were raised in a religion (82%) say they simply do not believe, but this is true of a smaller share of agnostics (63%) and only 37% of those in the \u201cnothing in particular\u201d category.<\/p>\n\n

In fact, while this latter group certainly includes many nonbelievers, it also has substantial shares of people who, alternatively, are opposed to organized religion (22%) or who could be described as religiously unsure or undecided (22%). And more than one-in-ten people with the \u201cnothing in particular\u201d label (14%) say they are either non-practicing or too busy to engage in religious practices, compared with zero atheists in the survey and only 3% of agnostics.<\/p>\n\n

Note: The methodology of the recontact survey\u00a0used\u00a0in this post is\u00a0available here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the percentage of U.S. adults who do not identify with a religious group grows, we asked these people to explain, in their own words, why they 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