The number of Americans who say they have no particular religion has grown rapidly in the last five years, a trend that researchers say has significant implications for coming elections and American culture more broadly.
A report released today by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 20 percent of Americans say they do not belong to any religion or are atheist or agnostic, the highest percentage ever recorded in Pew polls and about 5 percent more than those who said they had no religious affiliation five years ago.
Researchers attribute the growth in the ranks of the religiously unaffiliated - or "nones" as they are sometimes called - to changing patterns of religious participation and belief among younger generations and a "softening" of commitment to religion among some older Americans. People who rarely or never attend church are also more likely to say they are not affiliated with any religion than in the past.
A third of adults under 30 say they have no religion, a much higher percentage than is found among older generations or was measured among young people in past decades.
The trend is expected to continue as new generations replace older ones, researchers found.
"There is also some evidence to suggest that the growth of the 'nones' is one of several indicators that the U.S. public may gradually be growing less religious," Pew senior researcher Gregory Smith told reporters at the Religion Newswriters Association annual conference in Bethesda, Md., on Saturday, before the official study was released.
He emphasized that the U.S. remains a "highly religious country," especially compared to Western European nations.
The findings were compiled from a new national poll of nearly 3,000 adults, past survey data and a new survey of about 1,000 religiously unaffiliated people that Pew conducted in June and July with PBS's Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly.
The study reveals a fuller picture of both shared traits and broad diversity among Americans who say they have no particular religion: the group includes more men than women, varying levels of education and income that mirror the general public, and a higher proportion of non-Hispanic whites than the general population.
Those unaffiliated with a religion are less likely than the general public to say that houses of worship help solve social problems, have a role to play in politics or strengthen morality, but they largely agree that religious organizations play an important role in helping the poor and strengthening community bonds, researchers found.
The "nones" tend to be liberal on social issues, like abortion rights and same-sex marriage, but track with the general population on opinions of the size and scope of government.
They are not uniformly secular - 68 percent say they believe in God and 37 percent say they are "spiritual" but not "religious" - but they are also generally not "seekers" who have just not found the right religion yet. Nearly 90 percent of those who say they have no religion also say they are not looking for one.
The size and makeup of the growing ranks of the "nones" have made them an increasingly significant constituency for the Democratic Party.
A quarter of all registered voters who are either Democrats or lean Democratic are now religiously unaffiliated, compared to 17 percent five years ago.
"Some surveys suggest that among people who say they are Democrats, the unaffiliated may become the single largest faith-based group," said John Green, a University of Akron professor who was an adviser for the project.
"It may well be that in the near future, if not this year, the unaffiliated vote will be as important to the Democratic Party coalition as the traditionally religious are to the Republican Party coalition."
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com