By Byron R. Johnson and Thomas S. Kidd, Christian Post
Over the past decade, the secular media has told us incessantly that American Christianity is in its death throes. The number one news story on religion in recent years has been the rise of the “Nones,” or people who say they have no religion.
So, is it finally the end for American faith? No. If you dig a little deeper, you’ll see why it’s not.
More people tell pollsters today that they have no religion. The total number of Nones, agnostics, and atheists rose from about 16% to 28% of respondents between 2007 and 2023, according to Pew Research.
A generation ago, cultural Christianity had a stronger hold in America. People then were likelier to say they were Christians, even if they never went to church. Today such people often just concede that they don’t have any formal religion.
The growing number of Nones has made America less superficially Christian. But from the Church’s perspective, this presents an opportunity. If a None visits your Church, they will not be confused about whether they’re a real Christian, unlike many nominal Christians in the Bible Belt.
Most polls do not ask follow-up questions about a person’s religious identity. When they do ask Nones about their specific beliefs, however, we see that they overwhelmingly believe in God (or a “higher power”), and they think people have souls.
The media regularly lumps Nones together with atheists and agnostics. However, the number of atheists and agnostics is not growing. Only the Nones have seen a significant leap in the past two decades.
Nones also display surprisingly high rates of spiritual practices and experiences. Some have been “born again.” Many Nones pray at least occasionally; some pray regularly. A small but significant number of Nones even attend church.
“Nones,” then, are definitely not atheists.