I’ve heard a lot about “the nones” lately. No, don’t
conjure up images of cantankerous ladies in penguin-like
habits enforcing Catholic-school order. These “nones” are
the new “spiritual but not religious.”
The Pew Center, a major
force in the socio-cultural research world, issued a
report last fall that found one in three young adults in
the U.S. chooses “none of the above” when asked
about their religious affiliation or identity. We humans
love ourselves a meme, so of course, the “nones” became a
new category of person that hadn’t exactly been labeled as
such before.
So what’s the big deal? Who cares if they’re a “none?”
For me, it smacks of a dying modernist mindset that simply
doesn’t fit anymore. That, and it also imparts a negative
connotation on them, as if they lack something everyone
else has.
Maybe, but not necessarily.
In politics, someone can officially identify as
“independent,” and they are considered to be a cut-above
the fray. We think highly of those independent thinkers.
So why is it that, when it comes to religion, you can’t be
independent, but instead you have to be a “none?”
The United States was built on principles of religious
and political liberty, which meant both freedom of choice,
as well as freedom from being a part of the system all
together. It seems that, while political independence is
seen as at least a virtue – or at least as socially benign
– there’s still negative baggage attached to those who
seek freedom from religion, and not just freedom of
religion.
Calling religious independents “nones” suggests, like I
said above, an absence. But increasingly, there are
intentional communities that provide much of what religion
has historically offered, but that would not formally be
defined as “religious.” For example, what do we call
someone who gathers regularly with friends to discuss a
book they’re reading (maybe even the Bible), and who also
donates to charity and gets involved in causes that matter
to them? What if they seek wisdom and guidance through
regular prayer or meditation and yet don’t darken the
doors of a church? What if they meet in a friend’s home
once a week, led by an unpaid but intentionally trained
facilitator that walks them through Scripture?
Or what if they do what they can to live their lives more
like Jesus, but they’re not particularly concerned about
bearing a religious identity?
This isn’t to say there’s not a benefit in being a part
of a religious group, but truth be told, there are plenty
of RINOS (“Religious in Name Only”) folks among those
surveyed who did claim a religion. By doing so, do they
really have anything the independents lack? What if being
freed from the institutional trappings of the church was
what some independents needed in order to truly find a
meaningful connection with God and/or one another?
Of course there are plenty of folks who simply don’t put
that much thought or effort into it. Their response to a
survey like the Pew study is more of a knee-jerk response,
and it may be the first time they’ve put any thought into
their religious identity or affiliation in a long, long
time. But that isn’t necessarily limited to the “nones.”
In fact, there’s a tendency within modern Christianity to
think much less about one’s faith after being baptized,
making a statement of faith or even signing a church
ledger, especially if the whole process is for that person
little more than a holy fire insurance policy.
So what does the fact that one in three young adults are
now “nones” tell us? To me, all it really lets us know is
that people care less and less about labels. And yet we go
about labeling them, often with monikers like “nones” that
are loaded with negative implications. But we get no
closer to really knowing the hearts, minds and spirits of
the folks in question, whether they claim a religion or
not.
If we have to call them anything, “Independents” seems
more fitting. But this still tells us little or nothing
about ourselves, except that we love labels. But as one
who spent a decade of my young adult life among these
folks being called “nones,” it smacks of the same old
guard, framing the conversation based on their personal
values and experience, which is largely why I became a
“none” to begin with.
