http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/12/413654984/
Jenny Schulz isn't religious.
"I see religion as something really personal," said Schulz, 26, who works at a nonprofit in Washington, D.C. "So the fact that it is a requirement in politics always seems unusual to me."
She said she "oscillates between atheist and agnostic," but she knows it could be many years before she votes for a political figure who shares her (lack of) religious beliefs.
Schulz is not alone. She is part of a growing group of American adults who do not identify with any religion. More than one-in-five American adults say so now, the highest in U.S. history. They are being identified as the religious "nones," so called for their lack of religious affiliation. As they grow in size, they are also gaining political power.
"I personally think that the characteristics, the profile, the potential influence of religious 'nones,' who say they have no religion, is an often overlooked part of the religion in politics story," said Greg Smith, associate director of research at the Pew Research Center.
Those "nones" consist of atheists, agnostics, and people who simply say they subscribe to no religion in particular. Altogether, they make up nearly 23 percent of the adult population, according to Pew.
That's more than than Catholics, and nearly as many as evangelicals, at 25.4 percent, according to the most recent Pew Religious Landscape Survey. Between just 2007 and 2014, the adult population of "nones" skyrocketed by 52 percent, to nearly 56 million. And that growth makes the "nones" one of the biggest, but least-noticed, stories in American politics, Smith said.
"When we think about religion in politics we often think about evangelicals," Smith said. "We often think about the religious right. We think about conservative Christians â€" and those are important groups. But we also have this large and growing group in the U.S. that say they have no religion. And that group is a kind of a counterweight at the other end of the religious spectrum from evangelicals."
He points to the 2012 election as an example. White evangelicals voted overwhelmingly for Republican nominee Mitt Romney, 79 to 20 percent. But people who claimed no religious affiliation voted overwhelmingly for President Obama â€" 70 percent to 26 percent.
That is an encouraging sign-and I see this group growing. My dog tags list my religion as 'no pref'.
Quote from: Mike Cl on June 18, 2015, 07:11:09 PM
That is an encouraging sign-and I see this group growing. My dog tags list my religion as 'no pref'.
It is encouraging. I wish I could still be around to see the day when only 25% of the population believes in supernatural magic.
I don't think Republicans worry about this too much, not for now, anyway. They are losing a small percentage of their base, a slight concern to be sure. But it's not like the new "nones" were all former Republicans. I'll bet many were liberals all along. As the pendulum swings, Republican politicians will ease up on playing the Jesus card. The religious right will just have to concede some power. Both the politicians and the base will adapt. There might be a return to a focus on fiscal issues within the Republican Party, which was their pride and joy at one time.
Right, whatever happen to the party?
Quote from: Solitary on June 19, 2015, 07:13:02 PM
Right, whatever happen to the party?
William Buckley would be turning over in his grave. :biggrin:
Quote from: SGOS on June 19, 2015, 07:35:44 PM
William Buckley would be turning over in his grave. :biggrin:
As would Barry Goldwater.
The numbers of the nones growing so rapidly is already causing panic within the ranks of the Republican Reich. It would be a good thing to see the demise of their party within my lifetime.
Quote from: Atheon on June 19, 2015, 11:58:21 PM
The numbers of the nones growing so rapidly is already causing panic within the ranks of the Republican Reich. It would be a good thing to see the demise of their party within my lifetime.
What's more likely is that the Teabagger wing will stomp away in a huff and take their knuckledraggers and neanderthals and Talebangelicals with them, and GOP go back to being more in the mold of Ike than of Eichmann. If that turns us into a multiparty state, excellent.
The departure of the religious reich and the teabaggers would be the death knell for their party.