But nones aren\u2019t inheriting the Earth just yet. In many parts of the world\u201d\u201dsub-Saharan Africa in particular\u201d\u201dreligion is growing so fast that nones\u2019 share of the global population will actually shrink in 25 years as the world turns into what one researcher has described as \u201cthe secularizing West and the rapidly growing rest.\u201d\u009d (The other highly secular part of the world is China, where the Cultural Revolution tamped down religion for decades, while in some former Communist countries, religion is on the increase.)<\/p>\n
And even in the secularizing West, the rash of \u201creligious freedom bills\u201d\u009d\u201d\u201dwhich essentially decriminalize discrimination\u201d\u201dare the latest front in a faith-tinged culture war in the United States that shows no signs of abetting anytime soon.<\/p>\n
Within the ranks of the unaffiliated, divisions run deep. Some are avowed atheists. Others are agnostic. And many more simply don\u2019t care to state a preference. Organized around skepticism toward organizations and united by a common belief that they do not believe, nones as a group are just as internally complex as many religions. And as with religions, these internal contradictions could keep new followers away.<\/p>\n