are so irrational when it comes to religion.

In addition, millennials are not tied too much to the past and they want to choose their own path.

enclaves that they are more will refrain.

....the rise of the Nones is due to a backlash caused by the Religious Right.

I think better education and advances in science may have something to do with it.

Religion is an argument from incredulity, IMO. Now that there's a better set of explanations on origins from the natural world who needs creation myths?

TV shows such as Through the Wormhole and The Universe could be having an effect. I can't see how anyone could cling to simplistic explanations after seeing something like that.

With our modern understanding of science why would anyone still cling to a bunch of beliefs about how the universe works that was written by a group of guys who were hardly out of the stone age - a group of people who thought that fire was a miracle and didn't realize it was a simple oxidation reaction.

People can compare notes on a mass scale and find out that millions of others are failing to see the emperor's clothing, as well.

Also: Many people are grasping that the universe and time are infinitely bigger than our tiny, tiny little corner. The last 2,000 years are a fraction of a blip of time in the scheme of thing. Believing that this little planet is the center of all creation and the focus of an omnipotent deity and that the birth of Jesus or Mohammed was the end-all and be-all takes some breathtaking self-centeredness and arrogance, IMO.

Yep, it is a powerful influence shaping the world and putting a dent in faith devoid of any reason or logic.

And faith is just gesticulation and proclamation as a means of social acceptance, no different from adherence to whatever local sports team you may have.

I grew up in West Texas. As a Church of Christ kid. Am now happily atheist.

The hysterical and authoritarian intolerance of the religulously insane reichwing has been the single biggest factor in turning people away from religion.

Spirituality and rational secular humanism are the waves of the future.

Maybe our far future is not so doomed afterall.

I remember reading about a similar poll back in 2007

And subsequently to information, has played a huge role in this. Kids are finding the answers to their questions on the www rather than " asking god".

believing that this life is all you get and that you should make the most of it, mostly by helping make the world a better place for the less fortunate, and God knows there are a lot of those!

right actually practices their faith.

and therefore they deserve and will get an afterlife. It makes me laugh thinking about what a relatively short amount of time modern humans have been on the planet, especially when you consider the tens of tens of millions of years dinosaurs were the dominant species on Earth. But, nooo, these naked ape-like creatures are the culmination of all "creation" and will live amongst Gawd in the clouds if they believe that a guy who died outside of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago is coming back to Earth any day now... Hoooookay.

I consider myself religious but I don't go to church.

So many people will not affiliate themselves with hate and hypocrisy. We've seen it, the Iraq war, Bush and his statement.." God told me to go to Iraq, the horrific group that protest at our vets funerals.. I know not all Christians are this way but its the reason many of us say, thanx but no thanx.

She went on and on about how my "soul" was not going to heaven and how it was just beyond her as to why I didn't believe in god or thought christ the son of god etc.

She capped it off by saying she would pray for me.

I thought for a moment and said, "what I find really interesting is this, I don't care what you believe, yet you get defensive when someone doesn't believe like you do?"

She looked at me and didn't reply.

I shrugged and walked away.

I get this weird feeling that religious people have this odd compulsion to be confrontational to we atheists because they somehow misconstrue it as a failing upon themselves. Just my personal observation.

and sometimes I think, as you say, that their deep seated beliefs are thrown into doubt because, in their minds, "how could an atheist possibly moral and ethical?"

They first have to understand that morals and ethics play no role in a persons belief system. It's been a typical tool of various religions to promote a sense of righteousness as being only of those of faith, while those who observe no faith are of low morals and ethics. That's certainly been part and parcel of any organized religion since the dawn of time. And frankly, any thinking person would find it silly.

People from all walks of life derive their morals and ethics from a variety of sources. Thinking that only someone of religious belief is capable of being moral and ethical is strange.

I have encountered, as many have, many people of questionable morals and ethics whom have been very religious, and at the same time, I have encountered the same with people who are not religious at all.

In the end, my own personal belief is this: humans are lazy. If you want a new invention for something, make the task difficult and a human will find a quicker way of doing it so as it's not as laborious. The same is with morals and ethics. Being truthful and kind is a lot easier than being a liar and a jerk.

The next part would be the concept of "self-less acts" which, in my opinion, don't exist and the TV show "Friends" had an excellent example of how it is impossible to commit a selfless act. All acts, regardless if you believe it's "self-less" has a reward of some kind to the person commiting the act. But that's for another post.

Believers do not like the idea of someone holding the position that they ( the believer) might just be wrong. Faith in god is promoted by and perpetuated by group think. Atheists represent a threat to that. If there is even one person out there that dares call in to question your belief system, it does damage that must be either repaired or dismissed as crazy.

They've been dismissing the non religious in this country as crazy for quite a long time

If the religious leaders hadn't gotten involved on politics and government to the degree they are, with their exclusionary, bigoted, holier than thou attitude - maybe there wouldn't be such a large percentage turning away.

I'm happy to see that non-religion is growning.

are trying to hurry it up.

...about how it would happen, and who qualifies for the big beam-out.

about everyone they don't like going to hell. They get a hell of a charge out of that.

It seems like that could be a confusing name, though.

Get thee to a nonery!
Nonesense!

Nones on the bus!

They're calling it 'nones' - it's insulting, implies by its very name that it is worthless, it's short and snappy and dismissive - all in one teensy weensy syllable! Gag me...the uber-religious hate-filled labellers. I believe, if there's any kind of God out there anywhere, that there SHOULD be a very special corner of hell waiting for these people.

so they will be raising a new generation without religion too

because I'm not catholic, ONLY catholics go to heaven all other religions are doomed to where ever but not heaven. God accepts no one but catholic because they were the very first religion so they are the chosen religion.
Well guess who died Thursday night at midnight, my brother "Pinkie". Dad wasn't there, he was at home in Florida sleeping when he died. My other brother ,my sister and myself were there as caregivers 24/7 for only a week, had to send mom back to Florida as it was too hard on her. So when my brother called and told dad Pinkie died, Dad said "well now he's in the arms of God". Pinkie wasn't catholic or any religion. Fuck You Dad. Your another self rightous religious hypocrit. Pinkie was a blessing to mankind during his short life, and held his head high and was respected.

My Dad told me the EXACT same thing - only he was Baptist, and all other religions...blah, blah, blah... I try very, very hard not to blame him for this ugliness, because this is how he was raised. When he got older, and he was starting to get a bird's eye view of death with a capital D, this religious stuff just consumed his life. That's what his parents believed, and their parents before that, etc, etc. I'm pretty sure that cycle is broken now, at least 1/2 way - there are 4 of us, 1/2 are agnostic, 1/2 are eat up with religious finger-pointing and name-calling ugliness. Takes time - he couldn't make that leap. Once I wrapped my head around that, I could deal with his obsession a little easier, and now that he's gone - I seldom ever speak to the 2 siblings still wrapped up in stupid. Life's too short. I guess my point is, try not to hate him - it will hurt YOU too much. He's gotten a lifetime of stupid to deal with.

has been growing for sometime now...for a couple of decades or more. Mixing politics and religion has been the poison pill that has turned people to stay away from organized religion/church attendance. On the other hand, some of the more liberal churches like the Universalist Unitarian type churches has seen their numbers increase for decades now.

They have the highest rate of post graduate degrees of any "formal" church membership.

Just off the top of my head could it be because some people;

are calling for the execution of rebellious children
are calling for the execution of homosexuals
are calling for the execution of adulterers
politicians are praying for rain
politicians are praying for the president to fail
politicians voting against equal pay for women
religious symbols are plastered all over government buildings, grounds and the commons
Creationism is being taught as fact
history is being rewritten leaving out the founding founders who were not Christians
trying to pass personhood bills for a fertilized egg
trying to pass bills that state life begins two weeks before the last menstrual cycle of a female
trying to overturn Roe 'v' Wade
trying to dress slavery up as a blessing
tax dollars being used to build ark replicas

I forgot that little jewel.

it's very difficult to find a religious org out there that isn't "Politically Corporatized" in order to "control the ma$$e$".

True "Christians" like moderate, sane republicans are a very rare breed these days.

I am nearly 50. As a child my parents decided not to bring us up in any religion. We lived in a small town where almost everyone was a Lutheran of some sort and here we were non religious. I tell you we were not popular and were even shunned by some. At the time I did hold some anger towards my parents for this. however today I see how brave they were.

We have a winner.

You can believe in hate and injustice and be a xtian. Jesus allegedly said lots of hateful stuff.

You can believe in love and be xtian. Jesus allegedly said loving stuff too.

They've been fucking us from time immemorial. It's high time they were on the other end of the cock.

I prefer to believe in things like fractals. However, I won't go to your house and try to get you to join my fractal church.

...and more and more people are rejecting it, especially young people. They know it's bullshit. It's become vitriolic, judgmental and it seems to encourage ignorance and stupidity. Some religious people have almost evolved into bullies. They think their way is the only way, and they look down on anyone who doesn't believe the same--and they're quick to criticize and judge.

How in the hell is that spiritual???

This example illustrates what has happened---My daughter was working in a small group at school. She is in sixth grade. This happened during social studies, and the subject was not religion. One girl, out of the blue said, "Everyone raise your hand if you go to church." Out of the seven at the table, my daughter was the only one to not raise her hand. The girl snapped at her, "You know you're going to hell don't you???!!!"

This is a girl who had been bullying my daughter all year. My daughter is a sweet, kind and gracious girl--a straight-A student and very active at school. She wouldn't harm a fly. This girl has been vicious to her all year, and now she's publicly condemned her to hell.

This bully may not represent all religious people--but her snooty, judgmental, hypocritical actions represent what has happened to a lot of religion these days--and illustrates why many have no use for it.

"Would Jesus say that to me?" Really loud, so everyone can hear. I've used some version of "WWJD" a few times on internet fundies, and it works real well, especially when they're in a crowd of their own.

the"religious " right, either and neither . and jerry fallwell and others dont represent me at all.

People can believe whatever they want and if it comforts you to believe something nice is awaiting you after you die then good for you.

However I do worry about organized religion as they often push for things (and have the votes/money to get it) that are not in the best interest of the nation or the average citizen.

They're not about happiness.

Too much sex in the Oval office, and not enough Jebus.