1 in 5 Americans Select "None" as their Religion

Do you realize that 20% of Americans are atheists, agnostics or "nothing in particular?"  20%  That's 62,318,383 Americans that reject, or who do not consider important, the magical thinking of religion!  Amazing!

These data from a Pew poll are startling.  The population of "Religiously Unaffiliated" has grown 5% since 2007.  And the largest growth has been among young people.

Of those who indicated "Nothing in particular," only 10% indicated that they were looking for a new religion.  88% said they were not.

Most of the erosion is coming from the Protestant denominations.  Catholics remain a solid 25% of the population, virtually unchanged since 1972.  But the various Protestant churches have lost more than 10% in the same time.  And that 10% has shifted to the unaffiliated category.

There is a ton of juicy data to paw through.  Far more than I can digest and summarize here.