ENGAGING THE NONES

Acknowledgements

Peter TinsleyFormer President, SLS

Brian HarveyExecutive Director, CFI on Campus

Nick StancatoAffiliate Program Manager

Overview■Who are the Nones?■The Meaning of Secular to Nones■3 Steps to Engaging the Nones

Who are the Nones?

“None”■ Polling term: individuals who

answer “none” when asked about their religious affiliation

■ Includes atheists, agnostics, and individuals who do not belong to any particular church

■ Does not include anyone who belongs to a church or organized religion

■ “for this generation”

■ coined by the church in the middle ages to differentiate from “for God”

■ usually used to refer to anything that isn’t specifically church-related

■ Includes anything by anyone, religious or otherwise, that does not come directly from religion

“Secular”

“None”

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 20140

5

10

15

20

25

30

Religious Affiliation (Pew Research Center)

Atheist Agnostic None Don't know

■13% are atheist

■17% are agnostic

■39% are unaffiliated and say that religion is not important

■30% are unaffiliated and say that religion is important in their lives

Atheist Agnostic Not important Important

Secular = “for this generation”

Pew Research Center, May 12, 2015, “America’s Changing Religious Landscape”

"Me" Generation

Millenials

Generation X

Baby Boomers

Silent Generation

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Pew Research Center, May 12, 2015, “America’s Changing Religious Landscape”

“Generational cohorts typically do not become more religiously affiliated as they get older.”

—Pew Research

Pew Research Center, May 12, 2015, “America’s Changing Religious Landscape”

New Millenials: The “Me” Generation■ aka “The Entitlement Generation”

■“Our generation has been called “entitled.” We beg to differ... True entitlement is enjoying the benefits of the lowest energy costs in the world while refusing to price-in the external costs of carbon emissions, exacerbating the real changes to our planet that pose profound risks to the environment and economy for which millennials will soon be the primary stewards.”

—Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-entitled-generation-isnt-millennials-2015-1

Secular“for this generation” “for the church”

Non-Secular

Whom are you here to help?

3 Steps

to Engaging the Nones

1. Cross-pollenate...

...and inter-breed

?

2. Take the Debate Further

■“Why else?”■Don’t discredit good ideas■Even atheists can be conservative

3. Secular ≠ Atheist

■“Why else?”■Secular arguments have been winning

in almost every social discussion■“Skepticism is the new Religion”

Thank You

Robert Parkerrparker@lclark.edu