Between the new year and Easter, you can count on two things: the Christian liturgical season of Lent and the Pew Research Center publishing its annual national religious poll.  For the legion of political junkies, there can never be too many polls.  But some numbers are more significant societal gauges than others.

Pew’s annual religious poll is one of them, and it discloses plenty.  

According to Pew, 28% of Americans say they are atheists, agnostics, or nothing in particular.  With its steady growth, the group has been labeled “nones” — not to be confused with nuns, those Catholic religious women who have dedicated their lives to Christ and His Church, who wear traditional habits, or the liberal ones with their unsightly pantsuits.

Provided nones were a religious denomination, they would be the largest in the country, and their numbers are growing.  In 1972, the General Social Survey found that five percent of Americans considered themselves nones.  In 2007, it was 16%.  

So much for the efforts of the Catholic Church’s “New Evangelization.”

Just who are these nones?  They are overwhelmingly young and white, and they vote Democrat.  Most have college degrees, proving again how academia is overrun with Marxists.  It seems not too many served as Marine or Army grunts.  However, I bet they love having Col. Nathan Jessup on that wall, even though they loathe all that he represents when he is throwing a few back at the Gitmo O-club.

The survey discovered that “by a variety of measures, religious ‘nones’ are less civically engaged and socially connected than people who identify with a religion.”  Moreover, “they are less likely to have volunteered, less satisfied with their local communities and less satisfied with their social lives.” 

Democratic societies depend on vibrant institutions like family, church, and voluntary social organizations that serve as an intermediary between the individual and the state.

There were no data on how much complaining they do, but chances are the percentage is high.    

A September Gallup poll revealed that 47% of Americans identify as “religious,” while 33% describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious.”  It is a New Age creed — an umbrella term for modern Paganism — where adherents worship nature and themselves.  

The spiritual, but not religious crowd favor the secular sacraments of diversity, inclusion, and equity for its social and cultural acceptance rather than the sacraments of the Church.  Their self-serving credo accepts abortion, transgenderism, and homosexuality as being tolerant — tolerance being the left’s greatest virtue.

Image: Darkmoon_Art via Pixabay, Pixabay License.