Rise of Religious 'Nones' Slows to Lowest Rate in Five Years

New Gallup report says religiously unaffiliated aren't surging as other reports suggest.


According to a new Gallup report, the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans may not be surging as other research has suggested.

Gallup reports that the percentage of its survey respondents identifying as religiously unaffiliated rose an average of 1 percent per year between 2008 and 2011. Yet, such growth has slowed as "the 2011 to 2012 uptick in religious 'nones' is the smallest such year-to-year increase over the past five years of Gallup Daily tracking of religion in America."

This suggests that "religion may be maintaining itself or even increasing in the years ahead," Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport told CNN. Read more