The General Social Survey (GSS), that was taken in 2018, was just released. Its results show that people who do not identify with a particular religion, ‘nones’, are not only the fastest growing religious group in America, but they are actually the largest group in America statistically. For years Evangelical and Catholic religious groups have been the dominant religion in America, with both claiming just less than 25 percent of the population according to the GSS. There was fear that Trumps presidency would scare a large number of people away from Evangelical churches, but this recent survey has show that there has not been any significant decrease in evangelicals. However, over the last 20 years there has been a massive increase in the number of people who do not identify with a religion, which correlates with a similarly sharp decline in the number of followers of “Mainline Christianity” (Mainline Christians include Methodists, Episcopalians, and Baptists). According to the GSS 23.1 percent of Americans identify as ‘nones’.
Even though the percentage of the population that claims no religious affiliation is staggering the percentage of ‘nones’ that don’t believe in God is actually very low, only 22 percent. This suggest that the vast majority of ‘nones’ in America are non-practicing people with Christian/Muslim/Jewish beliefs or are agnostics. Additionally, the largest number of people becoming ‘nones’ are Mainline Christians, who were at one point the largest religious affiliation in America, but have now fallen to roughly 12 percent of affiliation. The theory is that many Mainline Christians have steadily stopped practicing at their churches and have begun identifying as non-practicing.
One of the articles about this recent census discussed the political ramifications of this recent increase in ‘nones’. Allegedly, white evangelicals vote mostly conservative and compose roughly 26 percent of electors at the polls. This means that evangelicals have a disproportionately large political impact compared to their actual population percentage. The reason for this is, according to Religion News, evangelicals are, generally speaking, Caucasian and are comprised of an older population group. On the flip side, the religiously non-affiliated tend to vote more liberal because of their younger and more racially diverse demographic. However, they have, traditionally, had low turnout at the polls. The continuing rise in ‘nones’ will no doubt cause a shift in the political scene, favoring Democrats.
Links:
‘Nones’ now as big as evangelicals, Catholics in the US
contemporaryamericanreligion 
Declan-
First of all, this title really drew me in. You had great statistics to back up your argument. I would’ve thought that the reason for this increase in “nones” was new generations. I find it so intriguing that Christians who are no longer practicing are the biggest percentage of these. It makes me wonder how many people are actually religious, and if the view that America is in a “religion upswing” is true or if it is believed because of false reporting.
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This is very interesting! I was quite surprised reading some of the findings you wrote about in this article. (By the way, I loved the power of your last sentence!) It is fascinating to me that Church attendance/affiliation ebbs and flows with the economy, the political landscape, the current events. Throughout our class, I’ve been wondering specifically about what is happening in our Churches with Trump as President. For my research paper/presentation, I am looking into the Prosperity Gospel — Trump is typically included as a believer.
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Thanks for your post! First of all, this is an excellent title. When I started scrolling through these posts looking for something to comment on, this immediately drew me in and made me want to read it. It also helped that it was an interesting topic to discuss. Until this class I had never heard of nones. So it surprised me to discover how big of a group they actually are. One stat that stood out to me in your post is when you pointed out that most nones actually believe in God. When I would think of a none I would think of an atheist but it really helps that you cleared that up. Nones are an interesting group and was a great topic for you to discuss. Thanks!
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I thought your post was very interesting. I like hannahskinner3 thought that the increase of the “nones” would have been due to the newer generations, especially our generation. I found your post very informative and intriguing. It also makes me curious about what this means for the future of our country and its political developments. Will party views change again, or is it possible that sooner than later there will not be as big of a difference between the parties?
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This post was super interesting to come across. I agree with some of the comments above that with the older generations comes more religion than the younger generations, as they have a little bit more progressive ideals. Though I am religious, I have noticed a lot of people who went to my high school or even some of my friends now aren’t religious or identify as agnostic. Even some of my friends who do identify as Christians don’t practice a lot of the “normal”/mainstream Christian practices such as participating in Lent or going to church every Sunday or praying. In high school, I also noticed a huge shift in my school’s political climate as it became more Democratic. These things you mentioned in your article are slowly becoming more true as generations pass on.
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This is such an interesting topic to think about because I did not believe this at all until I read your post. Like other comments have said, it makes you start to think about the number of people who say that they are religious, but might be considered otherwise. Thank you for sharing this!!
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Throughout history religious affiliation has gone up and down. Take for example the 1920’s; at this time their was a trend of religious agnosticism in the United States and then the 1930’s hit. Heck, Thomas Jefferson felt that within his lifetime the U.S. would be completely converted to Unitarianism. So to say this trend of younger people being non-affiliated with any one religion is any different makes no sense. However, I do agree with you that the short term effects will cause political changes. To what extent no one can be certain.
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