Religion: None
• Hodgepodge
Organized as a religious denomination, they would trail only Catholics and Baptists in members.
The number of people who say none when asked to state their favorite brand of religion is rising. The religious studies folks call them "nones." The surveys imply there are 30 million nones in this the nation that we all know is God's Gift to the World™.
Despite their discomfort with organized religion, many consider themselves quite spiritual.
Though the more simpleminded of the God-crazed assume they are atheists and agnostics most of the nones believe in Somebody. These are the believing folks who'll tell you they don't like "organized religion." Probably some are among the groups that have co-opted the word Pagan or even vaguely Christian but unable or unwilling to affiliate with an institution.
Nones could form a powerful constituency for marketing or political causes.
It'd cheer me to read that they are all atheists and agnostics. But if fewer people align themselves with denominational Christianity the churches have less power.
One in three nones is less than 30 years old compared with one in five of all survey respondents. More are single (29 percent) than the adult population as a whole (20 percent). Fifty-nine percent are male. Their education level (23 percent college graduates) is virtually the same as the national average for adults. Seventeen percent are Republicans, 30 percent are Democrats, and 43 percent are independents.
Mark O'keefe, Newhouse News Service: Number of `Nones,' Those Who Claim No Religion, Swells in U.S.
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