One-fifth of Americans do not identify with any religion. ? Demographers call them"nones" because when asked to identify their religion they say none. But they are not necessarily atheists. Many of these people believe in God, many describe themselves as spiritual. Of course, people who don’t belong to an organized religion are of all ages, but they’re much more likely to be under the age of 30. According to researcher Greg Smith “Young people are not only more religiously unaffiliated than their elders, they are also more religiously unaffiliated than previous generations of young people ever have been, as far back as we can tell. So this is really something new.” npr.org/templates/transcript … =169164840 Based on my observation, most ILPers are in this category. I think it is caused by the fact that media {especially the Internet} brings us into contact with more diverse religious and anti-religious idea than ever before. This creates cognitive dissonance in persons who are adhering strictly to one religious ideology. As a result, more people are choosing to jettison dogmatism in favor of a more open ended system. What do you think?
Perhaps it’s the media. That probably plays a role.
I think the media is a smaller part of the larger answer though, which is that modern technologies have made different cultures more interconnected than ever. You talk about the media bringing us into contact with different belief systems – well, what I’m saying is that the answer is not in the media, but in our new-found easy access to different belief systems, which comes in many more forms than the media.
It’s really easy to avoid criticisms of your beliefs, and indeed avoid criticizing your own beliefs mentally, if you’re in a cultural bubble where everyone believes the same as you do. In fact, it’s not unusual in such a bubble to find that such critical awareness is punished, to varying degrees. Modern technologies and the interconnectedness of the world has burst that bubble for most people, and has made the bubble at least significantly more fragile for the people who still have their bubble.
One of the (perhaps minor) repercussions is this: it’s a common train of thought to think that, if a God exists, why would most of the world not believe in the right version him? Why would the vast majority of people be born into a situation where they’re almost certain to not believe in him? If God is just, and he does in fact choose who gets into heaven based on what they believe, it seems pretty brutal to basically assure people a place in hell simply because they didn’t have the luck to be born to a family that believes in the right religion.
And so, anybody who does believe in such a religion – a religion where eternal rewards and punishment are doled out based on having the correct faith – obviously has to face this conundrum. UNLESS, of course, the majority of people they meet on a daily basis are getting into heaven just like them. Then it becomes easy to ignore. But it’s a train of thought that’s becoming harder and harder to ignore now, because now it’s more and more apparent that the vast majority of people aren’t getting into heaven if your religion is right. You have to stare people in the eye every day who you know are going to hell, and anybody who’s moderately sane will wonder if that’s truly just.
I think people (even religious people) are slowly realizing the insanity of Organized religions and distancing themselves from the source of “evil”.
It’s not just US. I know it’s so in some other countries (maybe not in some Islamic countries, though…).
It’s thank to the endless demonstration of human stupidity in middle east, mainly motivated by organized religions,
stupidity of US politics supported by organized religions, child molesting Christian priests in many countries, and so on.
I think people are getting a little less insane due to the extreme exposure to the greater absurdity, which is probably a good thing for them, and for others. 
I agree with all that, FJ. I think that the Internet has increased the trend among the under 30 set who have grown up with it.
You know, that’s the cliche, but I’m not so sure it’s an accurate one. I mean, I think it’s totally fair to say that they’re more religious than the west, but from what I’ve heard/read/seen, there is indeed a growing population in the MidEast who no longer want to be a part of Islam, or at the very least not the Islam that we see today. You don’t hear about them much because vocalizations of such ideas are severely punished, but they’re out there, they definitely are, and I think in the next decade or two they will grow in power and number. Idk about the timescale until we’ll see a secular-ish MidEast, but I do think it’s only a matter of time. Probably before 2200 is my guess.
[edit]
Looking at that guess again, and thinking about it a bit more, I’ve gotta say, I really doubt it will take anywhere near that long.
Well, I’m not so optimistic.
I mean, I don’t think much of humanity will stay here for long time.
Just for next 5 years, millions will die because of nuclear pollution. It’s not just in Japan.
(This is somewhat optimistic view that the damaged nuclear plant will stay at the current state, and there are no other accident)
So, if people in Islamic countries are getting slightly less stupid, like some other countries, I think it’s a good news.
But the conflict in the middle east has factors other than that, and I don’t think slight reduction of our stupidity will change it, dramatically.
Hello Felix
At ILP I would say that people are for the most part fond of philosophy. Is it a form of religion? Perhaps. But hard to classify.
Outside of this forum I think that the rise of the nones might be exaggerated. Is it the effect of the Internet? I don’t know. I think that a period of dogmatism is followed by a period of anti-dogmatism, which is fueled by emotion more than by merit and which therefore gives way to an in-between, which is hard to classify.
What was more crucial? Immigration or the Internet? I think that the Internet is somewhat of a snoozer as a cause because people use it for much more mundane things than to expand their horizons. Remember one in five. And my follow on question is whether none is necessarily theologically motivated or forced by other necessities. For example it might not be the expansion of awareness of other religions but the incapacity to reconcile a lifestyle to available religions.
pewforum.org/Unaffiliated/no … spx#growth
Above is a link to study released in October by the Pew Research Center, ‘Nones’ on the Rise, that takes a closer look at the 46 million people who answered none to the religion question in 2012. According to Pew, one-fifth of American adults have no religious affiliation, a trend that has for years been on the rise. Where do you see exaggeration?
It would be interesting to see a breakdown of the ‘undesignated’. Are they spiritual? Are they theists fed up with religions? Are they all atheists?
The group is includes atheists and agnostics as well as those who ally themselves with “nothing in particular”. It includes many who say they are spiritual or religious in some way and pray every day. Overwhelmingly they say they are not looking to find an organized religion that would be right for them. “Nones” are socially liberal, with three-quarters favoring same-sex marriage and legal abortion. The group includes one-third of Americans under 30 who have no religious affiliation.
Felix,
I said exaggerated because it says very little. This group includes everything from atheists and agnostics to any person who is spiritual.
“What is today atheism will tomorrow be religion.” - Feuerbach (1804-1872)
Oh, it’s a quote, it must be true.
Reading the thread made me think of the passage. I found it an interesting correlative. Pardon me, professor.
Omar, the leader of the Christian cult I was in long ago is now telling all the members to stay away from the internet. Why do you think he’s telling them that.
And by the way the nones may also be happening because of world wide air travel. Never before in history have people been able to go anywhere in the world in very little time, and at relative expense.
It says that less people are participating in organized dogmatic religious congregations for a variety of reasons. Those traditional organizations have played an important role in the structure of society. I’m a “none” myself and I can see the significance of that. Even if religion was nothing the opium of the masses, the rise of the “nones” raises the question: what will happen to society without it’s opium? If that says little to you, I question your comprehension of the issue.
Didn’t Nietzsche bemoan the loss of mythologies out of the same concern for society?