Irreligion in the United States
[10] According to Pew, all three subgroups that together make up the religious "nones" have grown over time: in 2021, atheists were 4% (up from 2% in 2011), 5% agnostics (3% a decade before) and 20% "nothing in particular" (14% ten years before).
[15][20][18][21][22] For example, 72% of American "Nones" believe in God or a higher power[23][24] and a majority believe in spiritual forces beyond the natural world, and the existence of souls.
[30] Very few incorporate active irreligion as part of their identity, and only about 1-2% join groups promoting such values.
"[32] In the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) report, 15% of the US population identified as having "no religion", almost double the 1990 figure.
[5] In one 2018 research paper using indirect probabilistic methods with considerable uncertainty estimated that 26% of Americans are atheists, which is much higher than the 3%-11% rates that are consistently found in surveys.
[40] A 2010 Pew Research Center study comparing Millennials to other generations showed that of those between 18 and 29 years old, only 3% self-identified as "atheists" and only 4% as "agnostics".
[55] In 2019, a Pew study found that 65% of American adults described themselves as Christians while the religiously unaffiliated, including atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular", is 26%.
[56] According to a 2018 Pew report, 72% of the "Nones" have belief in God, a higher power, or spiritual force.
[58] Several groups promoting irreligion – including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, American Atheists, Camp Quest, and the Rational Response Squad – have witnessed large increases in membership numbers in recent years, and the number of nonreligious student organizations at American colleges and universities increased during the 2000s (decade).
[60] The overwhelming majority of the nonreligious in the US do not express their convictions in any manner, and only a negligible percentage joins irreligious organizations.
Young adults, in particular, have turned away from organized religion because they perceive it as deeply entangled with conservative politics and some seek to distance themselves from polarized systems.
[65] Robert Fuller argues that the ascendency of science as a way of understanding the world makes it difficult for some people to believe in the supernatural or accept the "blind faith" that religion often requires.
[17]: 2 That modern biblical scholarship has illuminated the human authorship of the Bible as opposed to divine revelation.
[17]: 3 And most educated people are aware of the role that cultural conditioning plays in shaping beliefs and attitudes.
For instance, Millennials, which make up about 1/3 the "Nones" demographic, tend to have less belief and trust in institutions such as the labor market, the economy, government and politics, marriage, the media, along with churches; than previous generations.
[66] The Nones tend to be more politically liberal and their growth has resulted in some increases in membership of secular organizations.
[60] Secular people in the United States, such as atheist and agnostics, have a distinctive belief system that can be traced for at least hundreds of years.
A region of the western United States known as the "Unchurched Belt" is traditionally considered to contain the highest concentration of irreligious people, although this may have been surpassed by New England.
They are about twice as likely to describe themselves as political liberals than as conservatives, and solid majorities support legal abortion (72%) and same-sex marriage (73%).
[50] According to a Pew Research exit poll 70% of those who were religiously unaffiliated voted for Barack Obama.
In January 2007, California Congressman Pete Stark became the first openly atheist member of Congress.
