None Too Simple: Examining Issues of Religious Nonbelief and Nonbelonging in the United States

Abstract

Prior research on those who are "not religious" in the traditional, organizational sense has focused on a broad category of people in the United States who do not identify with an established religious tradition. We distinguish three categories of people who are religiously nonbelieving or nonbelonging: atheists, agnostics, and unchurched believers. Examining issues of religious belief and identity, we compare private spiritual life, attitudes on political issues, and stance toward religion in the public sphere for these three categories of nonreligious respondents. Atheists are the most uniformly antireligious. Agnostics, by comparison, are less opposed to religion overall, while unchurched believers display higher levels of personal religiosity and spirituality than atheists or agnostics. While atheists, agnostics, and unchurched believers are similar in their political identification and attitudes related to religiously infused political topics, unchurched believers are as strongly opposed to religion in the public sphere as atheists. Correspondence should be addressed to Joseph Baker,

“Religious Nones” in the United Kingdom: How Atheists and Agnostics Think about Religion and Politics

“…Further quantitative research could examine the attitudes of secular groups in the UK toward the role of religion in the public sphere where -unlike in the United States (Baker and Smith 2009b) -there is no formal separation between church and state but instead an 'Religious Nones' in the UK 23 established or state church (in England). Further inquiry in this area seems especially pertinent given the emergence recently of a "new atheism" movement articulating a "direct set of political stances" on policy issues and an emphasis "on popularising anti-religious sentiment in order to support efforts to challenge the institutional and social power of religion" (McAnulla 2014, 126).…”

“…Baker and Smith 2009a;2009b), as a core aim is to examine group-related variation in religiosity in terms of both practice (including attendance.) and belief.…”

“…Recent analyses have shed important light on the social basis, nature, and extent of religiosity and spirituality, and the political attitudes of secular groups in the United States (Baker and Smith 2009a;2009b;. Baker and Smith (2009b) compared three groups -atheists, agnostics, and unchurched believers (along with the affiliated believers) -in terms of their private religiosity and spirituality, political identity, moral liberalism, and attitudes toward religion in the public sphere ("sacralizing" ideology).…”

“…Baker and Smith (2009b) compared three groups -atheists, agnostics, and unchurched believers (along with the affiliated believers) -in terms of their private religiosity and spirituality, political identity, moral liberalism, and attitudes toward religion in the public sphere ("sacralizing" ideology). Unchurched believers were the most privately religious or spiritual, followed by agnostics and then atheists (Baker and Smith 2009b, 726-727).…”

Forms, Frequency, and Correlates of Perceived Anti-Atheist Discrimination

“…Despite the documented recent growth in secular and atheist groups at both the local and national levels (Baker & Smith, 2009), many respondents reported experiencing stress at the perceived lack of social, group, and community support for their atheist identities and viewpoint. The relative preponderance of religion, and the lack of an alternative atheist counterpart, in volunteer opportunities, charitable work, and community support was a source of frustration for many respondents.…”