One of the most important trends in American religion in recent decades has been the rise of the “Nones,” Americans who tell pollsters they have no religious affiliation. Some observers see this trend as evidence of the continuing secularization of American society. But is religion really in decline? And how much can surveys tell us about Americans’ religious beliefs and practices?
In this episode of Legal Spirits, Center Director Mark Movsesian interviews historian Thomas Kidd about his provocative new co-authored book, The Death of Religion? Nones, Others, and the Flourishing of Faith. They discuss why conventional surveys may exaggerate religious decline, the surprisingly long history of religious disaffiliation in America—including the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century phenomenon of the “Nothingarians”—and whether Americans’ longstanding suspicion of institutions helps explain the rise of the Nones today. Listen in!
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