A few weeks ago I posted about a Pew Research Center survey that concluded about 20% of Americans have no religion. They are not affiliated with any organized religion, and have no desire to be affiliated with any. Not all of these people are die-hard atheists. They are a mixed lot -- atheists, agnostics, skeptics, and people who simply don't care about religion.Now there is another study that verifies the Pew Center's survey. It was done by the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues at the University of California at Berkeley. They have been doing their General Social Survey (GSS) since 1972. Back in 1972, the amount of Americans with no religious affiliation was only about 5%. By 1990 that figure had grown slightly to about 8%. But since 1990, the figure has grown rather rapidly (about 12% in 22 years), and in 2012 the percentage of Americans stood at about 20% (actually 19.7%).
Some in the past have said that these people without religion are mainly young people -- who will become religious as they grow older. But while about 32% of 18 to 24 year-olds are in the no religion group, there is no real reason to think they will become religious as they grow older. In fact, this survey shows that ALL demographic groups showed a significant increase in the number of people without religion. And this survey expects the trend toward no religion to continue -- at least for the foreseeable future.
Here is the demographic breakdown. The first percentage shown is the current number of non-religious people, while the number in parentheses shows the number of non-religious people back in 1990:
General public...............19.7% (7.7%)
Women...............16.4% (6.0%)
Men...............23.6% (9.9%)
Whites...............20.7% (8.3%)
African-Americans...............16.8% (3.1%)
Mexican-Americans...............14.1% (4.4%)
18 to 24...............32.0% (9.7%)
25 to 34...............28.6% (10.1%)
35 to 44...............18.8% (8.0%)
45 to 54...............16.0% (5.9%)
55 to 64...............14.7% (7.1%)
65 to 74...............11.9% (5.2%)
75 & over...............7.1% (3.8%)
Less than high school...............16.0% (9.0%)
High school diploma...............16.7% (5.5%)
Some college...............21.0% (7.1%)
College degree...............22.9% (12.5%)
Advanced degree...............24.2% (8.2%)
Northeastern states...............23.9% (7.4%)
Midwestern states...............18.7% (6.3%)
Southern states...............14.6% (5.6%)
Mountain states...............27.8% (4.3%)
Pacific states...............24.9% (14.6%)
Liberals...............39.6% (14.6%)
Moderates...............17.9% (6.1%)
Conservatives...............9.1% (5.0%)
This trend should be worrisome to the so-called social conservatives (those who want to impose their own religious beliefs on other Americans through laws). That's because I believe their actions are one of the main reasons for Americans fleeing from religion in ever larger numbers. Note that the sharp climb in the number of non-religious Americans began about 1990 -- shortly after these social conservatives began to increase their visibility in American politics. It looks to me like they are shooting themselves in the foot -- repeatedly.
