… in Conversation … Interview by Elizabeth Brown
David Gutterman, politics professor and associate director of Willamette’s Center for Religion, Law and Democracy, studies an emerging demographic: individuals who identify themselves as unaffiliated with any religious tradition. > Tell us about this trend toward non-affiliation. According to a 2012 nationwide survey by Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, almost 20 percent of the U.S. populace does not identify with any religion. We call them Religious Independents, or “nones,” and their numbers have been growing dramatically. > What do you notice about this trend? We see a far higher percentage of Religious Independents among the Millennials — more than 30 percent — than among Gen Xers, Gen Yers or Baby Boomers. Because historical trends show that people are more likely to identify as religiously affiliated as they age, you might think this was a time-of-life phenomenon — that Boomers are affiliating more as they grow older, and that Millennials and others will follow suit. But within each generation, more people are becoming unaffiliated every year. And the trend crosses geographies, too. > What surprises you about this shift? We’ve known for a long time that one of most stable predictors of religious affiliation is being raised in a religious tradition. Interestingly, the Pew results show that people raised without religious affiliation are even more likely to remain Religious Independents than others are to remain within their affiliation. For example, a “none” is more likely to remain a “none” than someone raised in the Catholic tradition is likely to remain affiliated with Catholicism. As a result, even as the Millennials age, the number of religiously affiliated in the United States will be less than it was a generation ago. That’s surprising for a nation that, historically, has distinguished itself as religious. > To what do you attribute the rise of the “nones”? In part, it’s because religious institutions are offering people less of what they need — or what they want. It’s not that Religious Independents are necessarily “losing faith”; we aren’t seeing a huge leap in the number of atheists and
agnostics. The “nones” simply don’t consider themselves members of a religion. And for previous generations, membership was an essential element of identity — a way to understand oneself as part of a community. > What are some of the implications of this growing population? The political implications are fascinating. Traditionally, among others things, religious organizations have given people access to the political system. But because they are not members of anything, Religious Independents lack a strong collective political voice. So we’re seeing a growing number of independents with less of a voice in politics and a shrinking number of affiliated believers with a larger voice, because compared to the “nones,” they remain organized, funded and coherent. > Your research on politics and religion covers the two subjects you’re never supposed to bring up in polite conversation. I hear that all the time. But I’m not all that interested in being “polite” if it means you have to avoid talking about issues of religion and politics and race and sex and power and justice. > Besides studying two of the most provocative topics in American conversation, what else do you do? For many years, I’ve been deeply involved with Oregon Humanities, the state humanities council. Our mission is to connect Oregonians with ideas that change lives and transform communities. For example, our Idea Lab brings 150 high school students and teachers together for a three-day program about the pursuit of happiness. Our Humanity in Perspective program is a free college humanities course for adults who don’t have a college degree and face financial barriers to continuing their education. Students read and discuss everything from Greek tragedies and philosophy to modern poetry and plays. I’m also a parent of three active kids. We travel and camp around the Northwest as much as we can.
WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY
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