Will ‘Nones’ bring a more hopeful future?
Publisher: In-Sight Publishing
Publisher Founding: March 1, 2014
Web Domain: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com
Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Journal: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal
Journal Founding: August 2, 2012
Frequency: Three (3) Times Per Year
Review Status: Non-Peer-Reviewed
Access: Electronic/Digital & Open Access
Fees: None (Free)
Volume Numbering: 12
Issue Numbering: 1
Section: B
Theme Type: Idea
Theme Premise: “Outliers and Outsiders”
Theme Part: 29
Formal Sub-Theme: None.
Individual Publication Date: November 1, 2023
Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2024
Author(s): James A. Haught
Author(s) Bio(s): James A. Haught, syndicated by PeaceVoice, was the longtime editor at the Charleston Gazette and had been the editor emeritus since 2015. He was thought to have been the first investigative reporter in West Virginia. He won two dozen national newswriting awards and was author of 12 books and 150 magazine essays. He was also a senior editor of Free Inquiry magazine and was writer-in-residence for the United Coalition of Reason. He died on Sunday, July 23, at the age of 91.
Word Count: 451
Image Credit: None
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2369-6885
*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citations, after the publication.*
Keywords: Catholics, Flynn Effect, IQ, James Haught, Nones, Protestantism, religion, Southern Baptists.
Will ‘Nones’ bring a more hopeful future?
Some day, the coronavirus tragedy will be gone, wiped out by scientific vaccines. This part of the 21st century will instead be remembered chiefly as the era when supernatural religion died among intelligent Western people.In other words, the Secular Age is blossoming right now, amid many daily distractions. The evidence is everywhere.
American adults who say their religion is “none” began to explode in the 1990s and climbed to one-fourth of the population. Among those under 30, the churchless ratio is close to 40 percent. Church membership has dropped 20 percent in two decades. A stunning 13 percent of American adults are ex-Catholics. Southern Baptists have lost 2 million members since 2005. Mainline Protestantism has collapsed so much it’s called “flatline Protestantism.” Rejecting religion has become socially acceptable.
The retreat from supernatural faith has been swift and profound. The Atlantic magazine has observed:
History does not often give the satisfaction of a sudden and lasting turning point. History tends to unfold in messy cycles – actions and reactions, revolutions and counterrevolutions — and even semi-permanent changes are subtle and glacial. But the rise of religious nonaffiliation in America looks like one of those rare historical moments that is neither slow, nor subtle, nor cyclical. You might call it exceptional.
Research has established that nonreligious people have higher intelligence than believers do. And the Flynn Effect shows that IQ in the West is rising about three points per decade. People are getting smarter — and smart people are less likely to accept gods, devils, heavens, hells, miracles, prophecies and other magic claims of religion. Rising intelligence means sinking religion.
A Sept. 28 Pew Research report stated:
Religiously unaffiliated adults — a group also known as religious “Nones” — are more likely to express accepting views of homosexuality, less likely to prefer traditional gender roles in marriages, and more likely to identify with the political left than are adults who identify with a religion.
That’s why if America is lucky, the erosion of churchgoing will bring a steady increase in support for humane public policies.
Do you want universal health care as a human right for everyone? And college that is easily affordable for all, without crushing debt? And continuation of women’s right to choose to end pregnancies? And security for gays against cruelty? And police reforms so white officers stop killing unarmed black men? And greater American involvement in the global battle against the menace of climate change? And sensible protections against gun massacres? And matter-of-fact sex education to reduce unwed pregnancies? And solid support for the public safety net that aids less-privileged families?
Nobody can predict the future — but I think a significant hope lies with the Secular Age that is blooming all around us.
Bibliography
None
Footnotes
None
Citations
American Medical Association (AMA 11th Edition): Haught J. Will ‘Nones’ bring a more hopeful future?. November 2023; 12(1). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/nones-hopeful
American Psychological Association (APA 7th Edition): Haught, J. (2023, November 1). Will ‘Nones’ bring a more hopeful future?. In-Sight Publishing. 12(1).
Brazilian National Standards (ABNT): HAUGHT, J. Will ‘Nones’ bring a more hopeful future?. In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, Fort Langley, v. 12, n. 1, 2023.
Chicago/Turabian, Author-Date (17th Edition): Haught, James. 2023. “Will ‘Nones’ bring a more hopeful future?.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 12, no. 1 (Winter). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/nones-hopeful.
Chicago/Turabian, Notes & Bibliography (17th Edition): Haught, J “Will ‘Nones’ bring a more hopeful future?.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 12, no. 1 (November 2023).http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/nones-hopeful.
Harvard: Haught, J. (2023) ‘Will ‘Nones’ bring a more hopeful future?’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, 12(1). <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/nones-hopeful>.
Harvard (Australian): Haught, J 2023, ‘Will ‘Nones’ bring a more hopeful future?’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vol. 12, no. 1, <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/endgame-israel>.
Modern Language Association (MLA, 9th Edition): Haught, James. “Will ‘Nones’ bring a more hopeful future?.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vo.12, no. 1, 2023, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/nones-hopeful.
Vancouver/ICMJE: James H. Will ‘Nones’ bring a more hopeful future? [Internet]. 2023 Nov; 12(1). Available from: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/nones-hopeful.
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