More than 1 in 4 American adults identify as “religious nones,” meaning they consider themselves to be “atheist,” “agnostic” or “nothing in particular,” according to a report from the Pew Research Center released Wednesday.
According to the new set of data, 28% of Americans classify themselves as “nones,” 17% of whom identify as atheist, 20% as agnostic and 63% as “nothing in particular.” Most “nones” said they were raised to be religious, and the majority were raised in Christian households.
The data was mostly based on a Pew Research Center survey of 11,201 respondents that was conducted over the course of a week last summer. The report also drew on a few other surveys conducted in recent years and on Pew’s National Public Opinion Reference Surveys.
“When asked directly why they are not religious, two-thirds of ‘nones’ say they question a lot of religious teachings or don’t believe in God,” the report said.
Religion is (I think Marx said) the “opiate of the people.” And always the poorest people with the least education seem the most readily duped by religious nonsense. And in my opinion, they’re the ones who can least afford it.