The Quiet Spiritual Migration— Observation

What might the numbers might be telling us?

What struck me most — especially given that I have unknowingly belonged to this group for decades — is that the so-called “Nones” are now the world’s third-largest religious category, after Christians and Muslims. Between 2010 and 2020, their numbers grew more than any religious group except Muslims. The religiously unaffiliated now number approximately 1.9 billion people, or about 24% of the world’s population.¹  My goodness!

Years ago, I was quietly shunned for refusing to name a religious affiliation. I did not know there were others like me. Yet today this body of individuals is no longer a fringe population but a significant global demographic. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of religiously unaffiliated people increased in every major region of the world. In North America, their numbers nearly doubled, while Latin America and the Caribbean experienced an increase of 67%.¹

Many were raised within traditional religions, as I was, but no longer find institutional identity compelling. I left my Lutheran church, at least psychologically, when I was nine years old — silently, inwardly — even though I was still required to attend.

For many, the defining characteristic is not disbelief but migration: a movement away from inherited religious structures and toward something else.

And perhaps this explains why, to my surprise, readers have been arriving at this website from all over the world.

The movement is global, but I want to look more closely at what is happening here in the United States.

Something subtle is happening across the American spiritual landscape. Nearly three in ten U.S. adults now describe themselves as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religious affiliation. Yet religious disaffiliation does not necessarily mean the disappearance of spiritual belief. Earlier Pew research found that seven in ten religious “Nones” believe in God or some other higher power.²

It is tempting to interpret this simply as a decline in Christianity or religion in general. But perhaps the deeper story is quieter: some people may not be abandoning the sacred at all. They may be migrating toward new ways of experiencing it.

What does this shift reveal about the evolution of American consciousness?

“Nones” is a colloquial label for people who describe themselves as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religious affiliation. According to Pew Research Center’s 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study, 29% of U.S. adults are now religiously unaffiliated, compared with 16% in 2007 and 23% in 2014.³

Note: Percentages may not add precisely to the 29% total because of rounding.³ ⁴

The relationship between religious affiliation and spirituality is more complicated than the labels might suggest. Pew uses the term spiritual but not religious (SBNR) to describe people who consider spirituality important in their lives but do not consider themselves particularly religious. By that measure, 22% of American adults are spiritual but not religious. Among SBNR Americans, 54% are religiously unaffiliated, while 45% still identify with a religion.⁵

The distinction matters. Religious disaffiliation and spirituality are not opposites.

Indeed, another finding caught my attention. When Americans were asked how they had changed over the course of their lives, 29% said they had become less religious. Yet 43% said they had become more spiritual, while only 11% said they had become less spiritual. Even among religiously unaffiliated adults, 27% said they had become more spiritual over time.⁶

Something is happening here.

It would be a mistake to reduce nearly one-third of the American population to a single explanation. People leave religious institutions for many different reasons — intellectual, personal, cultural, theological, or simply because inherited labels no longer describe their inner experience.

The movement itself, however, is measurable. About 20% of all U.S. adults were raised in a religion but now identify as religiously unaffiliated. By comparison, only about 4% were raised without a religious affiliation and later adopted one.⁶

My own impression is that many are not abandoning the search for meaning but redirecting it. Whether that search ultimately leads back to established traditions, toward new communities, or into a more personal spiritual journey is another question altogether. This may not simply be a rejection of Christianity or religion. It may also reflect a search for forms of spirituality that more closely align with people’s lived experience.

If that is so, the movement toward higher awareness calls for an expansion of thought, not stagnation. Progressive revelation is needed.

I use the phrase progressive revelation in a broad sense — not to suggest that truth itself changes, but that perhaps, as human consciousness grows, we are able to perceive dimensions of spiritual reality that earlier generations could not. Teachings may deepen as our capacity to receive and understand them grows.

Every generation inherits wisdom from the past, yet each must discern how that wisdom speaks to the questions of its own age.

References

1. Pew Research Center. How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020. June 9, 2025. See also Religiously Unaffiliated Population Change, 2010–2020.

2. Pew Research Center. Religious “Nones” in America: Who They Are and What They Believe. January 24, 2024.

3. Pew Research Center. 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study: Religious Identity in the United States. February 26, 2025.

4. Pew Research Center. Religious “Nones” in America: Who They Are and What They Believe. January 24, 2024. Used for comparisons among atheists, agnostics, and those who identify as “nothing in particular.”

5. Pew Research Center. Who Are “Spiritual but Not Religious” Americans? December 7, 2023.

6. Pew Research Center. How Americans Change, Keep Their Religious Identities Over Their Lives. February 26, 2025.

7. Linda A. Mercadante. Belief without Borders: Inside the Minds of the Spiritual but Not Religious. Oxford University Press, 2014.

Continue the journey...
— uMdali Light 🌿

Continue the reflection:
If you're interested in what these changing patterns might mean from a historical and philosophical perspective, you may enjoy next week’s companion article: ⭐ The Quiet Spiritual Migration — Reflection.