The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going

by Ryan P. Burge

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 2021

In The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going, Ryan P. Burge details a comprehensive picture of an increasingly significant group--Americans who say they have no religious affiliation.

The growth of the nones in American society has been dramatic. In 1972, just 5 percent of Americans claimed "no religion" on the General Social Survey. In 2018, that number rose to 23.7 percent, making the nones as numerous as both evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics. Every indication is that the nones will be the largest religious group in the United States in the next decade.

Burge illustrates his precise but accessible descriptions with charts and graphs drawn from over a dozen carefully curated datasets, some tracking changes in American religion over a long period of time, others large enough to allow a statistical deep dive on subgroups such as atheists and agnostics. Burge also draws on data that tracks how individuals move in and out of religion over time, helping readers understand what type of people become nones and what factors lead an individual to return to religion.

The Nones gives readers a nuanced, accurate, and meaningful picture of the growing number of Americans who say they have no religious affiliation. Burge explains how this rise happened, who the nones are, and what they mean for the future of American religion.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Seen through the lens of Bowling Alone, the decline in church affiliation and attendance is not unique to just the religious arena but part of a decrease in social activity in all areas of American life. In essence, people stopped joining groups, and church was just caught up in the wave of the desocialization of America. Interestingly, according to Putnam, the main culprit of this social retraction is the introduction of technology, specifically cable television.” (source)

Product Details

• Title: The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going
• Author: Ryan P. Burge
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Print Publication Date: 2021
• Logos Release Date: 2020
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9781506465869, 9781506465852, 1506465854, 1506465862
• Resource ID: LLS:9781506465869
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2023-07-13T00:35:31Z

About Ryan P. Burge

Ryan P. Burge is an assistant professor of political science and the graduate coordinator at Eastern Illinois University. He teaches in a variety of areas, including American institutions, political behavior, and research methods. His research focuses largely on the intersection between religiosity and political behavior, especially in the American context.

Previously, Burge completed an appointment as a post-doctoral research fellow at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute in Carbondale, Illinois. While there, he was an adviser on survey methodology and polling, and provided data collection and analysis.

He has published more than a dozen articles in well-regarded peer-reviewed journals, including Politics & Religion; Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion; Review of Religious Research; Journal of Religious Leadership; Representation, Politics, Groups, and Identities; Journal of Communication and Religion; and Social Science Computer Review.

In addition, his research has been covered in a variety of media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Vox, 538, Christianity Today, Religion News Service, The Daily Mail, Deseret News, and C-SPAN. He is cofounder and frequent contributor to Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a more general audience.

Burge is a pastor in the American Baptist Church, having served his current congregation for more than fourteen years.