The Nones 4 Understanding and Engaging the Nones I. Classifying - - PDF document

Richard A. Knopp

• Prof. Philosophy & Christian Apologetics

Lincoln Christian University Coordinator, Room For Doubt

Understanding & Engaging
 The ‘Nones’

www.roomfordoubt.com Session Webpage: www.worldvieweyes.org/scjc2018.html

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The Nones

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The ‘Nones’

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Understanding and Engaging
 the Nones

• I. Classifying the Nones
• II. Counting the Nones
• III. Characteristics of the Nones

IV . Captivating and Convicting the Nones

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I. Classifying the Nones

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The Literature on the Nones

Surveys

✦ American Religious Identification Survey (IRIS) ✦ Pew Research (e.g. Religious Landscape Survey - 2007, 2014) ✦ Barna Group ✦ Lifeway ✦ General Social Survey [GSS] (1972-ff) ✦ World Value Survey [WVS] ✦ National Study of Youth and Religion (2003, 2005, 2008)

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(Oxford, 2016) (Oxford, 2001) (Oxford, 2014) (NYU, 2014) (Oxford, 2015)

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Nones: Not Affiliated with any “Religious” Group

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Nones: Not Affiliated with any ‘Religious’ Group

A Sociological Descriptor

• 1. Atheists, Anti-theists, Apatheists

✦ Only 31% of Nones: Atheist or Agnostic (Pew 2014). ✦ Of the 31%: 13% Atheist; 17% Agnostic.


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Nones: Not Affiliated with any ‘Religious’ Group

A Sociological Descriptor

• 1. Atheists, Anti-theists, Apatheists

✦ Only 31% of Nones: Atheist or Agnostic (Pew 2014). ✦ Of the 31%: 13% Atheist; 17% Agnostic.


• 2. Spiritual But Not Religious (SBNR)

✦ 37% of Nones are SBNR. ✦ 68% believe in God. ✦ 21% pray every day.


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Spiritual Not Religious Not
 Spiritual Religious Pharisees ? Yourself ? Jesus ?

37% of Nones 42% of Nones

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The Nones

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Atheist Agnostic Believe in God Spiritual But
 Not Religious NOT Spiritual
 NOR Religious

42% 37% 68% 17% 13%

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II. Counting the Nones

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Headline

“Nones” the 2nd Largest Group in America

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Counting the Nones

✦ “Second-largest group” in 112 countries

(Pew 2014)

✦ The “largest” religious group in seven

countries (Pew 2014). 16

Counting the Nones

“All the numbers tell us that if the unaffiliated gathered into a formal religious organization, it would be larger than any Protestant denomination and all Mainline Protestant denominations combined” (Drescher, 6)

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Growth Considerations

• II. Counting the Nones

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 1950s 1972 1990 2007 2012 2014

22.8% 19.3% 15.3% 8.1% 5.0% 2.0%

The “Nones”: Growth

Pew Research Center, 2012 and 2014 Mercandante (Oxford 2014)

All Americans

(56 Million) 19 Million INCREASE

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 1990 2007 2012 2014 (25-33) 2014 (18-24)

36% 34% 32% 22% 11%

Millennials

The “Nones”: Growth

Pew Research Center, 2012 and 2014

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Geographical Considerations

• II. Counting the Nones

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29% 26% 30% 24% 22% 30% 21% 16% 17%

Nones by U.S. Census Divisions (2007-2014)

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GROWTH of Nones (2007-2014)

26% 44% 33% 50% 57% 60% 55% 30% 40%

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0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

America 1981 America 2011

28% 8%

“Not Religious” AND Attend Infrequently or Not At All

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Germany Australia Sweden

66.0% 56.0% 47.0%

W

• rld V

alues Survey

2011

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United Kingdom – Nones

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

1963 - All 2014 - All 2014 ≤ 25 yrs old

66.0% 45.0% 3.0%

2015 British Election Study

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Generational and Religious Backgrounds

• II. Counting the Nones

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The Nones: From Where?

✦ Not just church hemorrhaging ✦ From a religious heritage: 79% (21% raised unaffiliated)

1:4

Nones

R R

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Raised in Group vs. Current


(2007-2014)

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Catholic Mainline Prot. Evangelical Nones 2007 2014 2007 2014 2007 2014 2007 2014 22.8% 25.4% 14.7% 20.8% 9.2% 23.9% 19% 31.7%

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Raised As: % Who STAY % Who LEAVE % Who Become Nones

Hindu 84 20 18 Jewish 76 25 18 Catholic 68 41 20 Baptist 60 63 15 Presbyterian 40 66 25 Non-Denom. Protestant 44 53 19

Drescher, Choosing Our Religion (Oxford, 2016)

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Original Identification

Pre- 1925 1925- 1943 1944- 1955 1956- 1970 1971- 1994 Liberal Protestant 2.5% 6.6% 12.9% 14.5% 21.9% Moderate Protestant 2.6% 4.7% 8.2% 9.8% 17.5% Sectarian Protestant 3.4% 3.9% 6.8% 10.8 13%

Sherkat, Changing Faith: The Dynamics and Consequences of Americans’ Shifting Religious Identities (NY Univ. Press, 2014) [GSS Data]

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Counting the Nones

Schnabel and Bock, “The Persistent and Exceptional Intensity of American Religion: A Response to Recent Research,” Sociological Science (Nov. 27, 2017).

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Strength of Affiliation

Strong Affiliation

Schnabel & Bock, in Sociological Science (2017): GSS Data

N

• A

f f i l i a t i

• n

( N

• n

e s ) N O T S t r

• n

g A f f i l i a t i

• n

60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

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Type of Affiliation

Schnabel & Bock, in Sociological Science (2017): GSS Data 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 70% 60% 50% 40% 20% 10% 0% 30%

No Affiliation (Nones) Evangelical Non-Evangelical

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III. Characteristics of
 the Nones

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Spirituality

• III. Characteristics of 


the Nones

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“Spiritual But Not Religious”

✦ New Age ideas, BUT …

At least 61% of practicing Christians embrace at least one idea rooted in New Spirituality.

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“Spiritual But Not Religious”

✦ Spiritual but NOT SEEKING. ✦“Are you looking for a religion that would be right

for you?”


88%: “NO.”

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Believing vis-à-vis Belonging

• III. Characteristics of 


the Nones

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Believe Do Not Belong Do Not
 Believe Belong

• 1. Believe & Belong
• 2. Believe;

Don’t Belong

• 4. Don’t Believe;

Don’t Belong

• 3. Belong;


Don’t Believe

• c. 8%–9% of Americans

Nones?

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Believing (in God) and Belonging

0% 5% 10% 15% 1988 1991 1993 1994 1998 2000 2006 2008 2010 2012

Believe but Don’t Belong Don’t Believe but Belong Don’t Believe and Don’t Belong

12.2% GSS Data - Sherkat, Changing Faith - Among All Americans 4.3% 7.7% 7.4%

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“It’s not that we’re having a ton of babies”

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Level of Doubt

God’s Existence
 ??? Creation
 ??? Miracles
 ??? Afterlife
 ??? Heaven
 ??? Hell
 ??? God’s Nature
 ??? Bible
 ??? God’s Existence
 ??? Bible
 ??? Bible
 ???

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IV . Captivating & Convicting
 the Nones

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Misc. 2%

Believe in God 68% Agnostic 17% Atheist 13%

Nones

Misc. 21% Neither Sp. 
 Nor Rel. 42% SBNR 37%

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• 1. Shift the Location and the Look of

the “Front Door” to Christ.

IV . Captivating & Convicting
 the Nones

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The Malaise of Immanence and the 
 Memory of Transcendence

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• A Different Sign

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• A Different Sign

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• 2. Creatively address the

“Postmodern Ethos” while being Cautious of Postmodernism as a Philosophical Posture.

IV . Captivating & Convicting
 the Nones

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A Postmodern Ethos

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Concepts and Terminology

Cultural Modern Postmodern Philosophical Modernism Postmodernism

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Philosophical

Western Conformity Machine Word Linear ‘Modern’ ‘Postmodern’ ‘ModernISM’ ‘PostmodernISM’ Certainty Reason Science Universal Truth Foundationalism

Cultural S t r

• n

g e r

Kinds of Philosophical Postmodernism

• vs. Global
• vs. Diversity
• vs. Digital
• vs. Image
• vs. Random

Skepticism Relativism Suspicion truths Contextualism vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs.

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• 3. Present a Comprehensive and

Compassionate Case for the Rational, Evidential, and Existential Basis for the Christian Faith.

IV . Captivating & Convicting
 the Nones

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A Rational, Evidential, & Existential Case

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The Peril of “Privatizing” Faith

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• 4. Appeal to the Prospects of 


Communal Unity.

IV . Captivating & Convicting
 the Nones

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• St. Paul in America

“I see that you are 
 spiritual but not religious.”

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Richard A. Knopp

• Prof. Philosophy & Christian Apologetics

Lincoln Christian University Coordinator, Room For Doubt

Understanding & Engaging
 The ‘Nones’

www.roomfordoubt.com Session Webpage: www.worldvieweyes.org/scjc2018.html

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