"Nonreligious" people figure strongly in the United States. (Up Front).

A survey on U.S. religious identification recently asked: "What religion do you identify with, if any?" Those responding "No religion" comprised over 14 percent of the sampling--representing nearly thirty million people. Of those not citing a religion, the number which consider themselves to be "humanist" rose a remarkable 70 percent over the past ten years.

These results come from a sophisticated survey conducted by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York--the doctorate-granting institution of CUNY. Billed as the "most comprehensive portrait of religious identification in the U.S. today," over 50,000 randomly selected respondents aged eighteen or older participated in the survey, and the stated sampling error for predicting the 208 million U.S. adult population was only plus or minus 0.5 percent.

When a number as high as thirty million is brought to public attention, the prospect of finding support for concerns of the nontheistic community suddenly becomes more viable--especially considering that the figure thirty million may be an underestimate. Of the total respondents, 5.7 percent refused to answer the identification question, and it is likely that nontheists were overrepresented in this category. This conclusion is bolstered by the results of a subsequent question, asking if respondents were religious or secular; 16 percent responded "secular."

Other groups friendly to humanist concerns also saw significant gains in this survey. Unitarian Universalists, Hindus, and Buddhists all saw increases, and groups within the community of reason--such as Ethical Culturists, secularists, and atheists--were included for the first time.

With all these increases one wonders: where are they coming from? Hardest hit have been the denominations which identify themselves as Christian--down to 77 percent of the U.S. population from 86 percent only ten years ago. Though there is a smaller percentage of Catholics in the United States today than in the recent past, Protestants saw a surprising net loss of 14 percent. Also, while 81 percent of U.S. adults currently identify with a particular religion, over the last ten years religious institutional membership dropped from 61 percent to 54 percent.

Without further research, one can only speculate about why these shifts are happening now and whether they vary in the wake of the September 11 tragedy. It is possible that the high profile of the religious right and its irrational extremism has led people to reflect upon the saliency of religious doctrine in their daily lives. As the religious right has dwindled in numbers, it is also feasible that people are more comfortable expressing their nonbelief. The population simply may be more informed. As our knowledge base rapidly grows in this Internet Age, people might be better prepared to distinguish fact from fiction. It is worth noting that this trend toward American secularization is consistent with trends in other Western democratic countries.

Embedded in these encouraging statistics are significant challenges and opportunities for the future of humanism. While the survey cites nearly 50,000 self-identified humanists, that is only a small percentage of the thirty million uncovered in this study who subscribe to no religion. The vast majority of this latter group doesn't identify with any philosophy or worldview. If organized humanism were able to reach this population, which may be searching for a community of reason without knowing where to look, such a sizable group could make tremendous gains toward improving society for the betterment of all.

The existence of untapped resources in the nontheistic community is reinforced by answers to survey questions which focused on personal characteristics. Results indicate that the median age of those who identify with no religion is thirty-six--seven years younger than the median age of all adults. Of those designating no religion, 35 percent are aged eighteen to twenty-nine, while only 8 percent are sixty-five and older. Such information may counter the assumption of an aging humanist population.

The survey also indicates that affiliation by ethnic minorities with nonreligion is higher than previously thought. A noteworthy 19 percent of Native Americans indicated "no religion," and "no religion" was the second most likely response of both the African Americans and Hispanics who participated in the survey. Over 20 percent of Asian Americans consider themselves to be secular, and over a million of the 5.3 million American Jewish population identify themselves as adherents of no religion.

Politically, those responding "no religion" are not a monolithic group of Democrats, as many have claimed. While an average number of the nonreligious are Democrats, as many as 43 percent claim to be Independent (only Buddhists had a higher number of Independents, 48 percent). Just a small number of the nonreligious (17 percent) consider themselves Republican--perhaps a response to the party's positions on issues like church-state separation.

Also, study statistics possibly counter the extreme right's claim that the nonreligious disregard the importance of family. While those responding "no religion" had a relatively high probability of being single and a high incidence of cohabitation, their likelihood of being divorced was average--and significantly lower than Baptists and Pentecostals.

Lastly, looking at the distribution of the nonreligious might help the humanist movement better target its resources and provide assistance to those in regions overwhelmed by religiosity. California showed the nation's largest nonreligious cluster; the study indicates that 15 percent of the state's population doesn't adhere to any religion. States where those responding "no religion" represent the largest group queried include Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. States with the fewest nonreligious include Alabama, Mississippi, and North Dakota.

The complete survey report is available on the Graduate Center's website: www.gc.cuny.edu/folio/index.htm.

Roy Speckhardt has an M.B.A. from George Mason University, is director of membership and programs at the American Humanist Association, is a board member of the Allies Project, and previously served as deputy director at the Interfaith Alliance.