A Nation of Nones
Sermon | February 18, 2024 | Lisa Jebsen
If you read my musings in the February newsletter, then perhaps you will recall the National Public Radio headline that caught my attention:
Religious ‘Nones’ are now the largest single group in the U.S.
While writing my contribution for the February newsletter, I didn’t have time to do more than read the article by NPR religious correspondent Jason DeRose – a very good read that had links to other articles… I knew I was peering into a rabbit hole that I would eventually go down – but I wanted to wait until I could do that with all of you! In the interest of not sounding like a research report, I’m going to jump around a bit. All of the surveys and articles that I talk about today will be included as links when we publish this sermon.
We’ve all probably filled out a form that asked about religious affiliation. How does a UU answer such a question? I’ve yet to come across a survey where UU is an option – even when I filled out the online form to become “ordained” to lead a marriage service! So what to choose – especially if you can’t write in “unitarian universalism”? Other? None of the above? As the NPR headline implies, you’re in pretty good company if you choose the latter.
So often as UUs, it’s easy to feel alone or in the minority; however, DeRose’s story explores the results of a recent Pew survey that dispute that. Out of 3000 US citizens, 28% of respondents claimed to be “following no religion in particular”. This group is larger than people identifying as Catholic (23%) or evangelical Protestant (24%) – so this group of nones (N-O-N-E not N-U-N!) is the single largest religious group in the U.S.
Pretty interesting – especially when you note that this is a significant increase compared to a survey from 2007 where Nones only made up 16% of respondents.
So what is a None? According to the article on NPR, a religious None is someone who makes that selection on surveys when asked for religious affiliation. None is an umbrella term for those who say they do believe in a higher power but they don’t practice a particular religion as well as atheists and agnostics.
To be clear this is a pretty diverse group but in general terms what the article describes sounds pretty familiar, like this…
Most Nones believe in God or another higher power, but very few attend any kind of religious service.
They aren’t all anti-religious. Most Nones say religion does some harm, but many also think it does some good. Most have more positive views of science than those who are religiously affiliated; however, they reject the idea that science can explain everything.
That sounds like a lot of people I’ve encountered since I started identifying as UU.
In another survey performed by Pew, the number of US citizens who identify as Christian is in decline…
Christianity remains the majority religion in the United States, as it has been since the country’s founding, but it’s on the decline.
A new study from the Pew Research Center shows that America’s Christian majority has been shrinking for years, and if recent trends continue, Christians could make up less than half the U.S. population within a few decades.
The study found that Christians accounted for about 90% of the population 50 years ago, but as of 2020 that figure had slumped to about 64%.
“If recent trends in switching [changing one’s religious affiliation] hold, we projected that Christians could make up between 35% and 46% of the U.S. population in 2070,” said Stephanie Kramer, the senior researcher who led the study.
The study modeled four scenarios for how religious affiliation could change, and in every case it found a sharp drop in Christianity.
Of course, this is a highly speculative assertion. Kramer and others in the article about this study acknowledge that. Examining this trend is important – because I think it could hold a key to how we as UUs approach the need to grow our community – not only this congregation but for all UU congregations.
Identifying and harnessing the potential power of Nones could have an impact on elections… Going back to that original NPR article…
Gregory Smith at Pew was the lead researcher on the study, titled “Religious ‘Nones’ in America: Who They Are and What They Believe.”
He says the growth of Nones could affect American public life.
“We know politically for example,” Smith says, “that religious Nones are very distinctive. They are among the most strongly and consistently liberal and Democratic constituencies in the United States.”
And that could change electoral politics in the coming decades.
The political power of white Evangelicals has been well-reported in recent decades, but their numbers are shrinking while the number of the more liberal Nones is on the rise
So here we are – a little deeper in this rabbit hole…
Nones are a group that is growing and can be broadly defined as liberal. How do we square this with another survey showing that 7 in 10 US adults identify as spiritual?
By the way – I felt morally obligated to send a donation to NPR after spending so much time delving into articles on their website!
From their story entitled “7 in 10 U.S. Adults Consider Themselves Spiritual” also by Jason DeRose, we learn these interesting numbers from a survey: out of 11,000 about half said they are religious and spiritual, meaning that “they participate in religious institutions as well as have personal spiritual practices or ways of thinking about the world that aren’t necessarily based on a formal religious tradition.
22% of U.S. adults say they are “spiritual but not religious.” 21% say they are neither spiritual nor religious. And 10% say they are religious but not spiritual.”
Don’t worry I’m not going to quiz you on any of these numbers I’m spitting out today! But I hope you are finding them as interesting as I do because here are some more:
83% of all U.S. adults believe people have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical body.
81% say there is something spiritual beyond the natural world, even if we cannot see it.
74% say there are some things science cannot possibly explain.
45% say they have had a sudden feeling of connection with something from beyond this world.
38% say they have had a strong feeling that someone who has passed away was communicating with them from beyond this world.
30% say they have personally encountered a spirit or unseen force.
Once again, I feel like these numbers and sentiments sound very familiar!
Going back to the exploration of Nones…. Here’s a question asked of them that we hear as UUs.. What do they believe?
For Nones, morality is a combination of reason, logic and the strong desire to avoid hurting others. This is in contrast to those who identify as Christian who might say they use those as well as “scripture, tradition and the guidance of religious leaders to make moral decisions.”
Again! Sounds familiar!
I want to focus on one last, very critical part of the survey of Nones. From the NPR article…
…Nones are also less civically engaged than those who identify with a religion – they’re less likely to vote….
Within the Nones, however, atheists and agnostics are more likely to be politically and civically engaged, whereas those who responded that their religion is ‘nothing in particular’ are far less likely to vote.
Pew also found that, overall, Nones are less likely to volunteer in their local communities than religiously affiliated adults.
I find these various survey results fascinating, heartening – and especially for that last bit, frustrating. We hear so much about the power of evangelicals – and let’s be clear, that power is real and they are using it – and yet, I can’t help but wonder what would happen if we harnessed the power of the Nones in our country?!
In so many ways, Nones’ values line up with our UU principles and back up a point from my January 21 sermon that in terms of those values, we are the majority! This is further reflected in the comments on the article posted on NPR’s Facebook page. Normally I can’t stomach any comment section, anywhere online – but so many responses on that thread are thoughtful, respectful and gloriously grammatically correct!
Now what if a None was invited to UUCOM? Statistically, we all probably know someone who falls into that category! If we take a chance and invite someone, I bet the None would find a home, a beloved community where they could explore their own spiritual beliefs with others, where they could find ways to make our local community and the world better through action. And who knows, maybe this None would write in “Unitarian Universalism” the next time they fill out such a survey.
Heck, while we’re dreaming, let’s go big… What if we did such a good job proselytizing and converting others to our living faith, Unitarian Universalism would need to be a named option on the survey?!
May it be so!
SOURCES
7 in 10 U.S. adults consider themselves spiritual : NPR
America’s Christian majority is on track to end as more leave religion : NPR
The importance of religion in the lives of Americans is shrinking
Modeling the Future of Religion in America
Religion and Congregations in a Time of Social and Political Upheaval
Religious ‘Nones’ are now the largest single group in the U.S. : NPR
Religious ‘Nones’ in America: Who They Are and What They Believe | Pew Research Center