Do you know what a NONE is?
No, it is not a female member of a Roman Catholic Order. In fact, just the opposite. A NONE is:
AN INDIVIDUAL WITH NO RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION WHATSOEVER
None! A NONE is someone who is either totally indifferent to anything religious or even antagonistic to it. A NONE is different from an Atheist or an Agnostic, an individual who at least wrestles with Religion, the one denying there is a God and the other claiming not to know. A NONE doesn’t care either way.
A Catholic Priest, one Rev. Stephen M. Koeth believes in many ways that modern day NONES are pagans. They have, says Koeth, “no knowledge, no practice, no anything.” He goes on to say that for most if not all of them:
“Religion just has no meaning whatsoever.”
No meaning. No relevancy. Nothing real about Religion for them or their lives. NOTHING FOR THE NONES.
Recent surveys, if you believe them, have shown that for the first time ever in 2019, the NONES are the largest demographic in the United States, representing 23% of the population. TWENTY THREE PERCENT! The NONES, again the largest religious demographic in the United States have overtaken the Catholics and the Evangelicals. In short, there are more NONES in the United States than there are Catholics or Evangelicals. If that is true, doesn’t that shock you? It does me. We the Americans have always assumed that our country is populated with people of faith, of all faiths and that those who were Atheist, Agnostic or no Religion at all were simply the small minority. Well, guess what. THE NONES ARE NOW THE MAJORITY AND THE LARGEST DEMOGRAPHIC WITH REGARD TO RELIGION IN AMERICA! The largest. Unbelievable.
The NONES are made up largely of millennials and especially the so called GEN Z young Americans. Apparently, they have seen the underbelly of RELIGION and they want no part of it. They see no reason whatsoever to bother with Religion. That led one writer to call them:
THE APATHETICS.
The apathetic does not attend church services. They ascribe to and believe in NO creed, doctrine or statement of faith and they have virtually no familiarity with the FAITH WORLD. Even more startling, perhaps even scary is the fact that their numbers seem to be growing by millions every year. Small wonder that the church is in disrepair, especially old–line Protestant denominations. Attendance and perhaps even commitment to the Catholic church is also on the decline while other forms of belief seem to be stagnant in terms of growth.
THEY ARE TERRIFYING. Those the words of Ryan Burge, a political scientist at Eastern Illinois University (EIU) and a Baptist Pastor. Burge says of the NONES:
“They have very low levels of income; low levels of education and they have sort of checked out from modern society. THEY ARE SCARY! They are the people who are isolated.”
Religion and church worship have been such a vital and integral part of all that is America now for almost 250 years, more or less. But such history and tradition means little or nothing to the NONES, the APATHETICS where there is nothing about Religion which is of any interest to them. The church, formal worship, religious tradition and standard need and commitment are all severely challenged as far as they are concerned. The NONES want no part of any of it.
Part of the reason is the intrusion of CULTURE. The American cultural scene has moved more liberal and progressive, far less conservative and of course with that far less religious and in fact, in many ways, the culture attacks Christianity especially encouraging all to abandon Religion directly or indirectly and live life in every way without it. In Hollywood, Christianity is often portrayed somewhere between a comedy and a disease (so said one pundit). Nothing is sacred, the person responsible for Christianity is mocked, even blasphemed and the name taken in vein with impunity. It is as though there is something wrong with any person who adopts and practices any religious faith, especially Christianity no matter the benefits. Perhaps that is partially because Christianity is so far flung, with so many different sub–faiths and therefore without any religious corporate muscle to fight back, resist and challenge any such cultural attacks. Roman Catholics, more church corporate and with larger clout as a result and perhaps Jews and Judaism fare better if and when the Hollywood culture comes after them. The NONES, the APATHETICS are well aware of this clash and constant attack and it simply fortifies their belief that Religion is irrelevant and meaningless. It is a day of change, perhaps even a fundamental religious revolution in America. The NONES are now the MAJORITY with all of the implications thereof for politics, policy, culture and especially RELIGION. Laws are changing. The Constitution is reinterpreted. Fundamental freedoms are in danger of being lost. All the more reasons for the NONES, the APATHETICS to withdraw, to become isolated from the fundamental democratic processes which govern our country. They are isolated. They simply don’t care in so many ways, care about really anything of value.
The Catholic Priest, the Reverend Koeth said the following, a profound even scary statement:
“Religion isn’t even in the cultural air and water that used to be breathed and drank by everyone.”
There are obvious signs of that everywhere. For centuries, the Bible was the one cultural continuum. But now, the culture is so fragmented and visual media and the internet are far more likely to be the sources of knowledge and shared information. So that, this new cultural and religious phenomenon in America not only affects the Religion which was once the foundation of this country, but also the very fundamental structure of western culture itself. Shakespeare, like the Bible means little or nothing to the APATHETICS. American history is disrespected or ignored, or radically changed and rewritten. The NONES could care less. It seems as though all they wish is to be left alone. They refuse to be part of the typical GROW–UP cycle upon which America and the church counted.
For decades, churches counted on a cycle. Young people would be raised in a family which respected the church and western culture. The teens would go to college, then get married, have children and adopt the activities and practices of the church, western culture, political traditions and moral values. THAT IS NOT HAPPENING ANYMORE. In the words of one religious observer:
“Now they drift away and don’t come back.”
It is just incredible the growth rate of the NONES. In 2010, the APATHETICS accounted for some 18% of the population. By 2012 they were 20% and most startling, this now majority American demographic has grown by ONE PERCENT each year ever since! Religion, however you define that, seems to be in deep trouble, and the church with it. More importantly, the church, RELIGION, seems to have no real answer:
NONE FOR THE NONES!
The Pew Research Center for Religion and Public Life however provides some interesting counter–facts. Those proclaiming to be unaffiliated with a Religion are actually shrinking as a share of THE WORLDWIDE POPULATION. That is so worldwide but not in America. The exact sources of those newly found religious affiliations are not fully identified, but such religious activity seems to indicate that there is a hunger on the part of millions in the worldwide population for a religious affiliation. Perhaps that is because worldwide there are not the options which we have in America. There are so many ways to be entertained, to be temporarily fulfilled, to have needs met day to day without regard for the long term. Entertainment exists everywhere. Social welfare is always available, from food stamps, to shelters, to kindly acts by neighbors so that basic needs can be met. And then there are drugs, and alcohol ever on the rise and readily available almost everywhere to anyone. Even the church and religious entities shunned and ignored by the NONES offer help and assistance where necessary. It seems rather easy to live and live reasonably well in America no matter your feelings about Religion. And the NONES do just that. They live as they please, responding to the pressure of none. They often are politically indifferent as well, many not voting at all and others simply voting for someone they may like. They are politically uneducated for the most part, do not know or understand the large issues of the day especially economic and for them, all such are largely irrelevant just like Religion. Small wonder that some religious demographic analysts regard the NONES, the APATHETICS as:
SCARY.
Scary for America and its future. If it rests in the hands of this new majority, America is indeed in deep trouble.
Christianity worldwide will hold stable at or about 32%, one out of three of the world’s population. That is the prediction of the Pew Foundation as it looks at trends for the next 30 years through and including 2050. Hindus, they say, will maintain their numbers and Buddhists and Folk Religions however defined will decline slightly. And worldwide, the NONES should represent about one out of seven even as these APATHETICS grow at a much more accelerated pace in America.
But the big growth globally is with regard to the:
MUSLIMS. One of the most strict and demanding Religions, the Muslim population will rise, so Pew predicts, from approximately 23% to 29%, almost matching the number of Christians in the world. So that, in time, the world population will be comprised of one out of three of the Muslim faith, and one out of three of the Christian faith. Then, or even before, the Muslims will have incredible power politically and religiously the world over, and even in our very own America. The practice of the Muslim Religion and the implementation of Sharia Law may well become some kind of reality not only in America, but the world over. If and when that happens, the world will be a totally different place, TOTALLY!