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The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going Paperback – March 9, 2021

by Ryan P. Burge (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 163 ratings
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In The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going, Ryan P. Burge details a comprehensive picture of an increasingly significant group--Americans who say they have no religious affiliation.

The growth of the nones in American society has been dramatic. In 1972, just 5 percent of Americans claimed "no religion" on the General Social Survey. In 2018, that number rose to 23.7 percent, making the nones as numerous as both evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics. Every indication is that the nones will be the largest religious group in the United States in the next decade.

Burge illustrates his precise but accessible descriptions with charts and graphs drawn from over a dozen carefully curated datasets, some tracking changes in American religion over a long period of time, others large enough to allow a statistical deep dive on subgroups such as atheists and agnostics. Burge also draws on data that tracks how individuals move in and out of religion over time, helping readers understand what type of people become nones and what factors lead an individual to return to religion.

The Nones gives readers a nuanced, accurate, and meaningful picture of the growing number of Americans who say they have no religious affiliation. Burge explains how this rise happened, who the nones are, and what they mean for the future of American religion.

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  1. Print length
    160 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Fortress Press
  4. Publication date
    March 9, 2021
  5. Dimensions
    6.25 x 0.5 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1506465854
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1506465852
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Editorial Reviews

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"Every section in this book brings me pain as a confessing Christian, but I want to know what is being experienced among those who find my faith inadequate or unhelpful. Be prepared to be distressed and disturbed, but take heart: the pain will lead you to what the gospel has the power to create anew." --Scot McKnight, professor of New Testament, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary

"The Nones by Ryan P. Burge will be a recommended resource of the Send Institute as we help denominations and networks strategize starting new churches for the future." --Daniel Yang, Director of the Send Institute, Wheaton College Billy Graham Center

"Ryan P. Burge deploys his expertise as a sociologist and his experience as a pastor to provide an invaluable, insightful, and detailed portrait of the Nones, . . . a reality that anyone involved in ministry or interested in society ought to understand. The Nones is an excellent guide." --David Gibson, Director, Center on Religion and Culture, Fordham University

"With so much data coming at us, there is a need for reliable sources of data based upon rigorous, trustworthy research. . . . The Nones by Ryan P. Burge is chock-full of nuggets for both the avid researcher and the responsible citizen." --C. Jeff Woods, Interim General Secretary, American Baptist Church, USA

"Ryan P. Burge brings both a sharp eye for data and a small-church pastor's insight into the changes affecting the American religious landscape. If you want to understand the rise of the Nones--those who claim no religion--and how faith groups might respond, The Nones is the book for you." --Bob Smietana, Religion News Service Journalist

"Using straightforward analysis and rich graphics, Ryan P. Burge masterfully uncovers the origin, character, and future of this diverse but influential group. . . . The Nones belongs on every pastor's bookshelf." --Scott Thumma, professor and DMin director at Hartford Seminary and director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research

"Clearly written with even clearer illustrations, The Nones by Ryan P. Burge explains who the nones are, why their numbers are growing, and what this means for the church. You need not be a "numbers person" to read this book. You need only to care why the religious landscape has changed so much over the past forty years." --Arthur E. Farnsley II, author of Flea Market Jesus and The Bible in American Life

About the Author

Ryan P. Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. Author of numerous journal articles, he is the cofounder of and a frequent contributor to Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a general audience. Burge is a pastor in the American Baptist Church.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Fortress Press (March 9, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1506465854
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1506465852
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 0.5 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 163 ratings

About the author

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Ryan P. Burge

Ryan P. Burge

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Ryan P. Burge is an assistant professor of political science and the graduate coordinator at Eastern Illinois University. He teaches in a variety of areas, including American institutions, political behavior, and research methods. His research focuses largely on the intersection between religiosity and political behavior, especially in the American context.

Previously, Burge completed an appointment as a post-doctoral research fellow at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute in Carbondale, Illinois. While there, he was an adviser on survey methodology and polling, and provided data collection and analysis.

He has published more than a dozen articles in well-regarded peer-reviewed journals, including Politics & Religion; Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion; Review of Religious Research; Journal of Religious Leadership; Representation, Politics, Groups, and Identities; Journal of Communication and Religion; and Social Science Computer Review.

In addition, his research has been covered in a variety of media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Vox, 538, Christianity Today, Religion News Service, The Daily Mail, Deseret News, and C-SPAN. He is cofounder and frequent contributor to Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a more general audience.

Burge is a pastor in the American Baptist Church, having served his current congregation for more than fourteen years.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
163 global ratings
Clear, readable, helpful
5 Stars
Clear, readable, helpful
Ryan Burge explains who the religious nones are (he breaks the group down into atheists, agnostics, and nothing-in-paticulars) and why they are growing in the USA. This book is full of graphs and data from the GSS and CCES surveys. Despite the emphasis on numbers, this book is readable. Ryan explains the data thoroughly and clearly.He wrote the book primarily for American Christians who want to understand the decline of the religiously affiliated in the country, and Ryan shares his experiences as both a political scientist and a mainline pastor occasionally. However, due to its emphasis on social science research rather than religious anecdotes, anybody who is interested in understanding changes in religion would appreciate this book.
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Top reviews from the United States

Joanne
5.0 out of 5 stars Very well written
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2024
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This book is a page turner. Seriously, Dr. Burge wears many hats: Professor, Pastor, statistician, and impressive writer. The information he gathers is cited by many respected online sites like Pew Research.
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Jed Rothwell
4.0 out of 5 stars Mainly social science, not religion. Needs editing.
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2021
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The author is a preacher and a social scientist. This book is mainly about social science. In the last 30 years, the U.S. has seen a sharp decline in the number of people who believe in organized religion and who attend church. The number of atheists and agnostics has risen, and the number of people who somewhat believe in God but have no religion in particular has risen even more. The author finds this heartbreaking, but he does not allow his feelings to get in the way of an objective, fact-based, social science analysis of what is happening, and why it is happening. You feel he is bending over backwards to be fair to atheists and other non-believers. I find this admirable.

His analysis is rigorous, nuanced and backed up with statistics from reliable sources. Several different reasons for the change have been proposed by various scientists. He looks carefully at the main proposed reasons. He finds that some have merit and statistical support, while others have little backing. He concludes that the three main causes are secularization (the replacement of religious faith by science), politics, and the internet. He looks closely at "social desirability bias." That is to say, social pressure to conform to religious norms, and the widespread idea that "Americans should believe in God and attend church." He shows that in the past this often led people to lie about how often they went to church. He cites a well known study in Ashtabula County, OH in 1993, 36% of people said they attended church every Sunday, but only 20% actually did. This social pressure has decreased, so people are more willing to admit they do not believe in God. The author discusses social desirability bias in detail. Based on his analysis and statistics, I think this should be listed as number two, after secularization.

The author says repeatedly that the problem is complicated. I find it less complicated than he does, but I get the point. He says there may be many contributing factors. It does look that way, but I think secularization and social desirability explain most of the trend.

It often happens that when a partisan on one side or the other analyzes a social issue, his bias interferes. I saw only a few instances of this. And I would see them! Because I am on the opposite side of the debate. I am an atheist. I am not at all opposed to moderate religion, but on the other hand it would not bother me if U.S. levels of belief and church attendance fall to the levels of Europe.

I think only a partisan with an emotional investment in the issue would go to the trouble to write this kind of detailed analysis. I have not read any similar social science analyses written by atheists. A book such as "The God Delusion" is about religion itself (theology), and only touches on a few social science issues. This book, in contrast, is mostly about the statistics, with only the last chapter discussing religion. In the last chapter, the author bemoans the trend but says there is probably nothing we can do to change it. He is right about that.

I give this book 4 stars because the book needs an editor. The writing is generally good, but there are tangled sentences, some confusing repetition, and some words are incredibly, incredibly overused, especially, "incredibly." Despite the awkward writing, it is clear and understandable. It is a short book, without much complex mathematics or statistics.
40 people found this helpful
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Peter Letheby
5.0 out of 5 stars A good perspective on religion's diminshed role in U.S. society
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2022
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This book's author (a pastor) sorts through all the trends and statistics on the rapidly condensing role of religion in U.S. society. I knew the general trends but the author lays them out in detail, as well as the primary causes for these shifts. I am giving the book 5 stars for its abundance of information. I thought perhaps he could have given more space to why these trends are most definitely likely to continue -- younger people are much less interested in organized religion and older people are much more likely to stick with religion as they age, perhaps the same religion they grew up with. This simple fact means religious adherents continue to die off while fewer and fewer younger millennials and Gen Z's are not interested in organized religion at all. He touches on the education component and probably doesn't give that more credence. That is: As more and more Americans are obtaining bachelor's degrees and higher, they become free and critical thinkers and come to the realization that God, or "gods," are supernatural in origin -- created my man. Once they reach that realization, they will not return to religion because it defies their senses and mindset. The author does a good job near the end when he discusses how churches can contribute much to society as a whole -- helping the poor, underprivileged, etc. -- without sermonizing the "Nones," the non-affiliated in the U.S. Disclaimer: I am an atheist and came to that fairly early in life because the Bible and monotheistic religions -- if studied at length -- are totally at odds with what their adherents would like you to believe.
12 people found this helpful
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ISSGOD
5.0 out of 5 stars it’s complicated.
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2022
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The author reveals some surprising statistics about the nones such as most are neither atheistic nor agnostic. The book looks at the cause of the decline of religion and even has some encouraging words on how to mitigate the exodus. All in all a good read for those that wish to better understand what the driving forces are in the decline of religion in America and the rise of the nones.
5 people found this helpful
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Ed, Green Bay WI
3.0 out of 5 stars good use of data
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2021
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Lays out a great case for understanding what constitutes the Nones but the book really needs an attempt at understanding the opinions that lie behind the growing trend of Nones.
3 people found this helpful
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Beth Walker
4.0 out of 5 stars Important read
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2022
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Great insights but a lots has happen since it was published. Would love some updated insights from the author on movement of the nonreligious identify groups included
2 people found this helpful
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Paul Purdue
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book from an academic about the faith trends in the US
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2023
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Great book from an academic about the faith trends in the US
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Larry Brewer
5.0 out of 5 stars The nitty gritty
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2021
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This book lays bare the facts behind why religion is becoming less a part of our lives by analyzing in detail the changing attitudes of today’s citizens. It will help dispel the errors in our assumptions as to cause and effect.
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