The world's departure from organized religion
There's a global, fast-growing population of people without a religion. That's according to a new AP-NORC Poll.
By the numbers: 3 in 10 U.S. adults said they had no religious affiliation.
About half of them identify as atheist or agnostic, and the other half say their religion is "nothing in particular."
The shift away from religion is even starker among younger adults, with 43% of 18- to 29-year-old Americans responding "none," when asked which religion they follow.
But fewer than 20% of U.S. adults over 60 are "nones."
The trend is gaining momentum across the world, AP reports from several countries:
In Japan, 70% of people in Japan say they have nonreligious feelings.
Nearly 80% of Italians say they're Catholic. But most view it as a tradition, with fewer than 20% attending services weekly.
Israel, a country with about 7 million Jews, is remarkably nonreligious: Just 33% said they practiced "traditional" religious worship. Conflict between secular and ultra-religious Israelis has grown in recent years.
https://www.axios.com/2023/10/06/organiz...nreligious
There's a global, fast-growing population of people without a religion. That's according to a new AP-NORC Poll.
By the numbers: 3 in 10 U.S. adults said they had no religious affiliation.
About half of them identify as atheist or agnostic, and the other half say their religion is "nothing in particular."
The shift away from religion is even starker among younger adults, with 43% of 18- to 29-year-old Americans responding "none," when asked which religion they follow.
But fewer than 20% of U.S. adults over 60 are "nones."
The trend is gaining momentum across the world, AP reports from several countries:
In Japan, 70% of people in Japan say they have nonreligious feelings.
Nearly 80% of Italians say they're Catholic. But most view it as a tradition, with fewer than 20% attending services weekly.
Israel, a country with about 7 million Jews, is remarkably nonreligious: Just 33% said they practiced "traditional" religious worship. Conflict between secular and ultra-religious Israelis has grown in recent years.
https://www.axios.com/2023/10/06/organiz...nreligious
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"