A new report shows that the percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion has stopped increasing, but they still have higher levels of stress and lower levels of hope than those who do. It was found that people self-reported that they had low
of current situation of the bible According to a report by the American Bible Society, the current percentage of people with nothing in the United States is 26% in 2024, the same as in 2023 and 2022. Other researchers have found similar results, the report said.
Essentially, the term “none” refers to individuals who answer “none of the above” when asked about their religious affiliation in a poll. Some, but not all, are atheists or agnostics.
The proportion of non-residents has increased rapidly over the past 50 years, from 5 percent in the early 1970s to 12 percent in 1996. It rose above 20 percent about 10 years ago.
“Social scientists acknowledge that 'social desirability bias' may be responsible in part for this group's rapid growth over the past half-century,” the report states. are. “So in 1972, some non-religious people thought it was a good thing to be religious, so they claimed connections that they didn't actually have. There is no such bias, but that bias only explains a small portion of the five-fold increase we saw.”
No one is more likely to be male and younger, more likely to live in a city, and less likely to be married. Although they are better educated and better paid than other Americans, they “self-report lower levels of hope and higher levels of stress,” the report says.
According to the report, about a quarter of non-citizens are “interested in the Bible and Jesus,” while another quarter are neutral and 40 percent are hostile to the Bible. 1 in 10 say they have a personal relationship with Jesus.
None of these are “vast mission areas,” the report said.
said John Plake, chief innovation officer of the American Bible Society and editor-in-chief of State of the Bible. baptist press That the church has to learn to reach out to the nose.
“One of the things that I think really helps us in serving people who are not religiously affiliated is recognizing that they are not against you,” said Plake, a Southern Baptist. He told the association's news outlet, Baptist Press. “And they're not against the church, against God, against the Bible. They're in this place in between.
“For many Americans, it's a borderline place, and that gives us hope that we can reach those people and that we can communicate the gospel clearly and biblically. Masu.”
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michael faust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His articles have appeared in the Baptist Press, Christianity Today, Christian Post, Leaf Chronicle, Toronto Star, and Knoxville News Sentinel.
