The highly regarded Pew Research Center has released its latest analysis of the religious beliefs of Americans and consequently acquired its usual major media headlines. The Washington Post version led: “nones — nonreligious Americans — increasing in U.S.”
National Public Radio announced: “nones are now the largest group in the U.S.,” ahead of “Catholics and Evangelicals.”
As usual, the facts were somewhat more complex than the media reported. The Pew report itself shows that most nones are not necessarily nonreligious.
But as its own more detailed chapter data demonstrate, the nones concept has been pushed too far.
And Pew’s reported percent of nones had actually declined marginally since 2019, (although it has increased substantially over 50 years). At 28 percent, nones were marginally larger than the 26 percent of Evangelicals or 25 percent of Catholics. But this is well below the 40 percent of all Protestants, much less the 60 percent of Christians, or 70 percent of all with a formal religion. (READ MORE from Donald Devine: Does Economic Recession Loom in Our Future?)
Pew actually created its “nones” category by combining three separate groups even to arrive at the 28 percent total: 17 percent of this group actually defined themselves as atheists, 20 percent as agnostics, and 63 percent (or only 18 percent of the grand total) as “Nothing in Particular;” that is, as not affiliated with any specific religion.
But the first two groups are quite different, having very specific belief histories opposing religion, while Pew concedes that the “nothings” have extremely complex, not especially nonreligious ideas about it. For example, while atheists and agnostics mostly reject the idea of God or a higher power, only a third of the “nothing in particulars” do so.
In its main summary section, Pew reports its results for all the “nones” groups together against those “affiliated” with all traditional religions, which naturally became the focus for the mass media reports on it. Actually, the full Pew report included eight other separate chapters with more detailed breakdowns of the separate nones groups, which will be discussed below. But Pew’s main summary report itself is sufficient to refute the progressive decline-of-religion theme emphasized by the mainstream media.
Right at the beginning of its main report, Pew’s summary of results reads:
Most “nones” believe in God or another higher power. But very few go to religious services regularly.
Most say religion does some harm, but many also think it does some good. They are not uniformly anti-religious.
Most “nones” reject the idea that science can explain everything. But they express more positive views of science than religiously affiliated Americans do.
This summary alone shows that the mainstream media substantially erred by simply headlining the nones as nonreligious. Pew did also say that “many [nones] are critical of religious institutions and are less participant in organizations generally,” and that, “Most say religion causes a variety of problems in society — like intolerance or superstition.”
But many “nones” also say that religion helps give people meaning and purpose, and that it can encourage people to treat each other well. Overall, 43% of “nones” say religion does more harm than good in society, while 14% say it does more good than harm; 41% say religion does equal amounts of good and harm.
The summary report added,
63% of “nones” say “there is something spiritual beyond the natural world, even if we cannot see it.” And 56% of “nones” say there are some things that science just can’t explain … About half of nones say spirituality is very important in their lives or say they think of themselves as spiritual.
On the claim that nones substitute rational science for religion, Pew reported,
Most “nones” say science does more good than harm in American society, and on average “nones” are much more positive about science than are religiously affiliated people. At the same time, most “nones” believe there are limits to what science can do. For example, 44% of “nones” say there is a scientific explanation for everything, while 56% say there are some things science can’t possibly explain.
Clearly, the mainstream media’s pro nones-bias led it astray. But the Pew report itself confused things by burdening the “nothings” (as we call the “nothing in particulars” by themselves) to carry the burden of the atheists and agnostics within the broader “nones” category. By adding them to the nones, Pew makes the “nothings” appear substantially more anti-religious and progressive-liberal than they actually are. For, with atheists at 17 percent of the nones category and agnostics at 20 percent, this represents almost 40 percent of the “nones” reported beliefs, which are often quite different than what the “nothings in particular” alone believe. (READ MORE: Thank Media’s Toxic Culture Wars for Today’s Universal Unhappiness)
It is reported, for example, that 70 percent of nones believe in God or a higher power. But 77 percent of atheists do not believe in either, suppressing the fact that 83 percent of nothings by themselves do believe, putting nothings right at the U.S. national average. Or, when asked if there is “something spiritual beyond the natural world even if we cannot see it,” or, instead, whether “the natural world is all there is,” 75 percent of atheists say there is only this world. But 75 percent of nothings say there is a world beyond. When asked if humans have a soul or spirit beyond their bodily existence, the nones total is misleadingly increased by the fact 69 percent of atheists say humans do not have such a spirit — while 78 percent of nothings say they do.
Only 4 percent of atheists and 18 percent of agnostics believe in Heaven compared to 51 percent of nothings who do. Even 41 percent of nothings believe in a Hell, compared to merely 13 percent of agnostics and 3 percent of atheists. In evaluating the overall effect of religion, 73 percent of atheists say religion does more harm than good, as do 51 percent of agnostics. But only 33 percent of nothings choose religion “does more harm than good.”
Nones views on science replacing religion are similarly distorted. When asked to choose between the belief that “there is a scientific explanation for everything even if we do not understand how everything works,” and the statement that “there are some things science cannot possibly explain” — 78 percent of atheists and 54 percent of agnostics but only 31 percent of nothings choose the science explanation for everything. Actually, 68 percent of nothings chose the more religious, limited-science ability to explain everything.
The Pew Center and its impressive surveys represent an invaluable resource for understanding world and U.S. public opinion. Its reports have been essential for my own understanding as a longtime political scientist writing on policy and public opinion. Pew’s “nones” concept has been incredibly successful in attracting popular media to its resources and conclusions. But as its own more detailed chapter data demonstrate, the nones concept has been pushed too far.
The term “nothings” is probably not the answer either but the conceptual separation of atheists and agnostics from whatever might replace it is essential. As an old survey data analyst, I understand the desire to increase the size of public opinion subset categories; but Pew’s own chapter data make the case that they should be separate categories. Earlier Pew analysis had shown that “nothings” may even switch back and forth to religion over time, suggesting some dynamic between them, while atheism and agnosticism clearly deserve their own separate designations. (READ MORE: The FBI’s Own History Exposes the Often-Rogue Agency)
In the meantime, thank you Pew Center for providing sufficient data to understand how the three separate groups responded and how they differ more than they agree on religion.
Donald Devine is a Senior Scholar at the Fund for American Studies in Washington, D.C. He served as President Ronald Reagan’s civil service director during the president’s first term in office. A former professor, he is the author of 11 books, including his most recent, The Enduring Tension: Capitalism and the Moral Order, and Ronald Reagan’s Enduring Principles — and is a frequent contributor to The American Spectator.
