c. 2008 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Americans who aren’t part of a religious organization or who identify as an atheist or an agnostic represent the biggest change among U.S. religious groups, according to a study released Monday (Feb. 25) by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey estimates that about 16 percent of America’s 225 million adults are unaffiliated with a religion.

When “childhood religion” is compared against “current religion,” the unaffiliated show a net increase of 8.8 percentage points, compared to a 7.5 point loss among Catholics, for example, or a 2.6 percent loss among Protestants.

The study, however, also makes it clear that the “unaffiliated” aren’t necessarily living out a strictly secular life.

“There is a sizeable number of Americans who are not affiliated with any particular religious group but who nonetheless have religious beliefs or engage in a variety of religious practices,” the study said.

Among the “unaffiliated,” only about a quarter identified themselves as non-believers (atheists or agnostics). The remaining three-quarters were those who reported “nothing in particular” when asked about their religious affiliation.

Barry Kosmin, director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture in Hartford, Conn., said many Americans are unaffiliated simply because they are dissatisfied with the current religious offerings.

Kosmin also said the diversity among the unaffiliated isn’t necessarily a surprise. “I have no religion, but I believe in angels and miracles” is just one example of the kind of belief people included in this group may hold, said Kosmin.

According to the study, younger adults are more likely to be unaffiliated, as are men and those living in the Western U.S. Those who are unmarried or living with a partner are also more likely be included in the group.

“Almost every study of religion in North America has found that men are less religious than women. Men just don’t buy into religious instruction as little boys as much as women do as girls,” said Robert Altemeyer, a professor of psychology at the University of Manitoba. “It carries over throughout life.”

Kosmin said those who are unaffiliated are more likely to be found in the West because the region lacks the religious infrastructure of the more traditional East, South and Midwest, or longstanding family ties “that will lead you to be tied to a congregation,” said Kosmin.

Kosmin also said marriage and religion frequently go hand-in-hand, and noted that previous studies have found that those who are divorced are the most likely to become unaffiliated.

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The Pew study also found that more than half of those who are unaffiliated as children do eventually adopt a religion. About 7.3 percent of Americans are born into no faith, and 3.9 percent eventually join one. But since nearly 13 percent of Americans later drift into the “unaffiliated group,” that leaves about 16 percent of Americans who are not tied to any faith group.

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Looking ahead, Kosmin believes the United States will follow the Western model of becoming less and less religious over time. But that’s not a change that’s going to happen overnight.

“I can tell you that you’re not going to call me in 10 years time and tell me that 40 percent of the population are atheists,” he said. “It’s not going to happen.”

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