An increase in the number of religiously unaffiliated in the U.S. does not necessarily mean that the country is growing significantly more secular, said experts at a recent panel. Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of Gallup, explained during a panel discussion held by the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C., that the data indicates the rise in self-described “nones” is simply the “already unreligious who are just changing the way they label themselves.”
Panelists discussed a 2002 article based on data from the General Social Survey and a 2012 study by the Pew Research Center showing rises in the number of U.S. adults who do not affiliate with any religious tradition, also known as “nones.”
Recent changes in identification are “changes in politics, rather than changes in faith,” Fischer said, suggesting that shift may be attributed not to deep theological changes but to “liberals and moderates declaring no religious preference as a way of rejecting the growing connection between churches and conservative politics.”