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Lauren Ducoste
Professor Malcolm Campbell
URWT 1103
11/2/16
Rise of the Nones: The Fall of Religion in American Society
When I was a kid, I thought everyone was a Christian. I grew up in a Methodist church
and honestly, I cant remember a time in my life when I didnt go to church. Every Saturday
evening, I would pick out my outfit to wear the next morning. My favorite was the green one
with the pink flowers. I woke up Sunday morning to the sweet smell of moms German
pancakes, even more excited to place my hair into two long braids with white bows at the ends. I
can remember going to childrens church in the basement, learning the books of the Bible to the
tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and watching movies based on biblical stories. Clearly,
my religion has been a large part of my childhood. Although, as I grew, I began to realize that my
initial perception of American society was incorrect, and that not everyone was a Christian, and
more specifically, that not everyone practiced a religion in general.
Religious Nones
I should start with a definition of a religious none. According to Michael Lipka, Senior
EditorwithafocusonreligionatPewResearchCenter,religious nones is a shorthand used to
refer to people who self-identify as atheists or agnostics, as well as those who say their religion is
nothing in particular. The Pew Researcher Center reported in 2015 that approximately 23% of
United States adults consider themselves to be a religious none. This is an increase from the
previously reported 16% in 2007. Religious nones are not limited by race, age, or ethnicity, but
are more common among millennials, people born between 1981 and 1996, making up 35% of

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religiously unaffiliated people. While religious nones are not completely devoid of any religious
belief, they choose not to specifically associate themselves with one established religion. 70% of
nones believe in God or a higher power. Elizabeth Drescher, adjunct Associate Professor of
Religion & Pastoral Ministry at Santa Clara University, notes that nones who believe in Jesus see
him as a moral exemplar. They dont believe him to have been a miracle work, but instead
highlight his social actions.
Fall of Religion: Why?
There are many possible reasons as to why religion is on the decline in American society.
Joseph andBusterG.Smith,sociologistswithextendedknowledgeofreligion,conducteda
studytodeterminewhatcouldbeinfluencingreligiousnones.Theyfoundthatfamily,religious
traditions,andsocializationaffectsreligiouspreferences.Peoplewithreligiouslyunaffiliated
parentsaremorelikelytobereligiouslyunaffiliatedthemselves.Also,theamountapersonwent
toareligiousserviceasachildhasagreataffectonwhetherornottheycommittoareligious
groupasanadult.Apersonspeergroupmayalsoaffecttheirreligiousaffiliation,orthelack
thereof.Themorereligiouslyaffiliatedonesfriendsare,themorelikelytheyaretofollowsuit,
andviceversa.JeanM.Twenge,apsychologistandauthorofGenerationMe,theorizesthat
individualismisakeyfactorinthedeclineofreligiousaffiliation.ShenoteshowAmerican
cultureisturningtoaculturesystemthatfocusesonselfandlessonsocialrules.Thisselffocus
isevidentthroughoutsociety,mostnotableintheincreaseintoleranceandequalitybetween
races,gender,andsexualorientation.Thereisalsoevidenceofdecreasedadherencetosocial
rules,aswellasdecreasedempathy,interestinlargegroups,andsocialrules.Thisoverallshiftin
Americansocietyhashadgreataffectonreligion.Becausereligionoftenincludesrespectfor
authority,aswellascommitmenttoaspecificgroup,Americanshavebeguntostrayfrom

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religionbecauseofthecommitment,aswellasthefeelingthattheirindividualismislimitedby
religion.
InapodcastleadbyDavidGreene,thehostofNPRsMorningEdition,DavidGreene
sitswithsixyoungmenandwomentodiscusstheirpersonalexperiencewithreligion,andtheir
reasonsforbeingreligiouslyunaffiliatedtoanyparticularreligion.Thebackgrounds
consistofJewish,Muslim,Christian,Catholic,SeventhDayAdventist,andmixedreligion.Each
persondiscussedtheirpersonalexperiencewithreligion,andwhytheyhavestrayedawayfrom
theirbeliefs.Explanationsfortheirreligiousdissentincludedisagreementwithcertainreligious
principles,difficultyconnectingwithahigherpower,anddiscouragementinthewakeof
tragedy.
The increasing prevalence of religious nones in American society correlates with the
increasing secularity of our culture. Secularization is defined by Emory University as, the
historical process in which religion loses social and cultural significance. Pew Researcher
Center, an organization that seeks to inform the public about issues, attitudes and trends shaping
America, states that some theorists view the rise of the unaffiliated as a sign that secularization is
advancing in America.
ScienceandReligion
OneofthegreatestconflictsinAmericansocietyisbetweenscienceandreligion.This
conflictisevidentacrossmanyareas,particularlyinschoolsandgovernment.Thisnotorious
conflictcouldbeanothersourceofthedeclineofreligioninsocietyasawhole.Twengenotes
thattheincreasingacknowledgementthatreligionisnotalwaysconsistentwithscientific
understandingoftheUniverseisanotherpossibleexplanationfordecreasinginterestinreligion.

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Asnewscientificevidencefortopicssuchasevolutionandstemcellresearcharise,peopleare
drawingawayfromtheirfaithtotrusthardfacts.
SocialMediaandReligion
Many sources also attribute the decline of religion to social media. This is a generation of
digital natives, who are highly involved in activities online such as social media, and this may
be causing people to simply have less interest in religious teachings. Social media opens any
users up to many diverse opinions, allowing them to choose what they want to believe. In a study
conducted by Paul McClure, a fourth year doctoral student at Baylor University in the sociology
of religion program whos main interests include the rise of the religiously unaffiliated, he notes
that the rise of social networking sites have given access to new ideas, beliefs and practices, and
that many of these ideas may be in conflict with those taught at home. Henry G. Briton, a Paster
at Fairfax Presbyterian Church in Virginia and occasional contributor to the Washington Post and
USA Today, notes how Facebook in particular has become an avenue for recruiting new
members to the church. He further argues that while social media can be beneficial to churches,
the public nature of social media such as Facebook causes religious users to have a harder time
maintaining their private and personal relationship with God. Because social media offers little
privacy, it has begun to make Church, and other religious establishments seem more a social
institution than a house of worship.
Reaction to Secularization of Society
The decline in religion has had a significant affect on religious establishments in the
United States. Thom S. Rainer, the president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, notes
that there has been an overall decline in church attendance in the last three decades. This could
be the results of Cultural Christians, which he defines as church goers who only attend for social,

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political, or business reasons, and no longer believe it necessary to be in church to be regarded as
a citizen in the community. While social media has been blamed for separating people from the
church, many religious establishments have embraced social media as an avenue to spread their
beliefs. Because society has become a very technology oriented, many religious organizations
have made a shift in order to reach out to those younger social media craving millennials.
Drescher notes several social media trends that are reshaping religion, one of which is social
prayer. There are over 100 religious pages on Facebook. Some of these pages, such as Jesus
Daily and The Bible, outrank celebrities like Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga (Drescher). I
visited both of these pages, and found that Jesus Daily claims to be the #1 most active Facebook
Page in history, This site also claims to be a source where visitors can learn how to accept Jesus
Christ as their Savior, read daily devotionals, learn about God, and share the Gospel with
Friends, among other things. Even Twitter, a well known social media that allows people to post
their every thought and action, has hashtags such as #prayer, #Jesus, and #Allah trending at any
given time. Drescher argues that social media is a vibrant locales for religious formation,
spiritual care, witness, and advocacy. Other religious avenues such as Young Life, a religious
program for adolescents to find a connection with christianity and helping them grow in their
faith, has arisen to reach out to that 35% of religiously unaffiliated in a fun and relatable way.
This decline in religious affiliation is forcing religious establishments to go outside of the status
quo and shift with society in order to keep religion from disappearing completely.

What does this mean for American Society?

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You may be wondering, What does a decline in religion mean for me? Well, this
decline not only affects religious environments, but American society as a whole. One effect, is
prejudice as a whole will die down (Twenge). While it will never entirely disappear, there will be
a steady decline, as has been seen already. Twenge states that transgender rights will be the new
civil rights movement, after gay and lesbian rights become taken for granted. She also notes that
more Americans will dissociate from religion entirely, including any affiliation, participation,
religiosity, and belief. Religion in society has always been prevalent, but the degree has shifted.
Because much of the morality in American society stems from religious teachings, it begs the
questions of how our morals will change as a culture. In the future, when I dress my own
daughter in her favorite dress and long braids, will she have the same intimate relationship with
the church as I did? Will there be a church for her to visit at all? Only time will tell

Works Cited

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Baker,JosephO.,andBusterG.SmithTheNones:SocialCharacteristicsoftheReligiously
Unaffiliated.SocialForces,Vol.87,No.3,2009,pp.12511263,web.18Oct.
2016
Briton,HenryG.Aresocialmediachangingreligion?USAToday,10June2010.
18Oct.2016
Drescher,Elizabeth,FiveSocialMediaTrendsthatareReshapingReligion.USCAnnenburg,
28Dec.2011.Web.31Oct.2016
Drescher,Elizabeth.TheGospelAccordingTotheNones.AmericanMagazine,8June,
2015.Web.3Nov2016
Greene,David.MoreYoungPeopleAreMovingAwayfromReligion,ButWhy?NPRNews,
NPR.15Jan.2013.18Oct.2016
Lipka,Michael."ACloserLookatAmericasRapidlyGrowingReligiousnones."Pew
ResearchCenterRSS.PewResearchCenter.13May2015.Web.17Oct.2016.
McClure,Paul."FaithandFacebookinaPluralisticAge:TheEffectsofSocialNetworkingSites
ontheReligiousBeliefsofEmergingAdults.10May2016.Web.2Nov.2016
Nones on the Rise, Pew

Research Center RSS. Pew Research Center. 9 Oct. 2012. Web. 7

Nov. 2016
Rainer,ThomS.SevenKeyReasonsYourChurchAttendanceMaybeDeclining.Lifeway
ChristianResources,1July,2015.Web.4Nov.2016
Twenge,JeanM.GenerationalandTimePeriodDifferencesinAmericanAdolescents
ReligiousOrientation,19662014.PLOSOne,11May,2015.Web.4Nov.2016