“Nones” on the RiseThat one line describing the surge of those without religious affiliation and their connection with the rest of the population reveals a grand amount of our current world and the strength of this issue. If there's one part of this study that I expected, but was still most inspired by, it was this.
One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation
This one chart showed that the younger generations have the highest percentage of unaffiliation with religion. The Younger Millennial percentage is at an astounding 34%, but this is not very surprising when you look at the environment they're in. Tolerance and diversity is second-nature in our current time. Major issues about religion are becoming more widely spoken about and are affecting their daily lives. Their influence is what carries on, and at the moment, the youngest generation has the most power its ever had before. Suddenly, younger members of our society have been bestowed with multitudes of opportunities ranging from activities, education, or a simple click of the mouse. Youtube, Facebook, Twitter have all become havens of not only youth activity, but of everything and everyone else, too. Vast types of organizations have their own media outlets where they can spread their influence. Not only is the youngest generation bearing witness to the massive amounts of information and ideas floating around, but they are able to participate themselves.
Interestingly, Pew also showed that most of the religious "Nones" were raised in a religion.
"However, the overwhelming majority of the “nones” were brought up in a religious tradition. The new Pew Research Center/Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly survey finds that about three-quarters of unaffiliated adults were raised with some affiliation (74%)." - Pew Research CenterNot only are the number of nones on a rise, but people are actually breaking away from past religious foundations. Doing such a thing would have been highly difficult before, as such massive social pressures would keep individuals from going against family tradition or even societal norms. The feeling of being rejected not only by their peers, but by their own family haunted many on the thought of actually severing ties with religion. Now, such a rejection is not as horribly given, received, or feared. Why? This can be due to how willing to accept we have become, and due to the fact that they realize:
They are not alone.
What used to be a closed off, non-diverse, non-tolerant society has suddenly turned into a world full of exposures and opportunities to many different kinds of people and resources. This is largely thanks to the Internet, where one can freely access knowledge on a broad range of topics, and communicate with others while remaining anonymous. That last part is important. As previously stated, one thing that stopped even the notion of severing one's ties with religion was the fear of societal rejection. On the Internet, where younger people rule, one can be immersed into an environment they couldn't find anywhere else, and yet be unknown to others. This is crucial in the development of all these younger generation atheists. It is the essential fact that they can think freely, engage freely, and access information freely that gives them the time to think and understand. This "unknown zone" offers a chance for them to contemplate and make their own choices free of unwanted or overly harsh influence.
What does this mean? More atheists in the future? The trend suggest so, but what will happen on a larger scale as a result? The Internet and society is not only full of ideas and knowledge that could lead to a rejection of theism, but also contains the remnants of theism digging in and clinging on. There is no denying the presence of it on social media, but it's not like it used to be in its previous environment. It used to be a dogma, a staple in most societies, where social pressures kept resistance low. Online, though, and in more accepting settings, it is having to struggle for presence in general. Spiritual communication in public view on social media is becoming increasingly abnormal. It's not as flaunted as it used to be and when it's come across, it's certainly not viewed like it used to be.
The younger generations don't feel as much of a need to display religious statements plainly because it is not as big of a part of their lives as it was in the older era. It's not taken as seriously when contacted either. So as the non-religious information and organizations grows stronger, religion and its reaches try to stand broad. If the trend continues, it could mean stiffer resistance from the conservative religious side in the already growing conflict with contemporary atheism. If it becomes clear that their ideas are being surrounded, more aggressive tactics could be used, but this is somewhat of an unlikely situation. A different possibility is a surge in conflict, and then a smooth transition as older ideas and the people who hold them strongest die out. Being theism it is highly difficult to predict. Forms of supernatural theism will most likely never go away, but how the current states will react and how long they'll take to simmer down has many different possibilities.
The conflict will be heightened almost no matter what. The outcome is not as certain as it seems either unless action is taken by other members of the atheist society. The great thing about the younger generations becoming less affiliated with religion is the open-mindedness and greater logical mindset, but not everything is good. The bad thing about many, especially much younger generations, turning away from religion is the reason they do it. They often lack an understanding about the world they truly are in then. It could simply be that they do it unconsciously through the lack of contact and care, or for nonsensical reasons. In both cases, unless further imploring and attention is given, it leaves them highly vulnerable to falling back into religion again. When coming into conflict without valid reasoning or support for who they are or their choice, they will easily subdue to theistic pressure.
This is why younger generation atheists need more direct attention. They are within the perfect environment, and if were given the knowledge of how to proceed, would result in strong independence and individuality. For the ones that do it drastically, it can certainly seem intimidating. There needs to be more directly targeted, available resources to aid them in what is to come. As the population of nones, especially younger ones increases, many various things will have to be done to support and encourage them. The also growing number of atheistic/humanist organizations should take action, and realize that there can be a unique and inspiring community by interacting with these people. The already strong atheist population needs to reach out and provide great assurance and general reinforcement Character education and education in general should be given greater attention as the power it holds is truly awesome. Yes, the name atheist simply does mean a lacking, but that doesn't mean it should lack compassion. The revolution is eminent, and it's looking beautiful.
Speaker of the Nones
