Thirty percent of Americans don’t identify with a religious group — but not all of them are atheists or agnostics.
In fact, 43% of the group known as the “nones” say they believe in God, even if they largely dislike organized religion.
Those are among the findings of a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Thirty percent of adults identified with no religion. That group, commonly called nones, includes those identifying as atheist (7%), agnostic (7%) and nothing in particular (16%).
Sixty-four percent in the poll identified with a Christian tradition, including Protestant (25%), Catholic (19%), “just Christian” (18%) ,Mormon (1%) and Orthodox (less than 1%). Other groups included Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim (1% each) and something else (2%).
Forty-three percent of all nones professed belief in God or a higher power — including 61% of nothings in particular, 40% of agnostics and 4% of atheists. Overall, 79% of U.S. adults professed faith in God.
About half of nothings in particular said they believe in angels, the power of prayer and heaven. So did about a quarter of agnostics. Agnostics and nothing in particulars were less likely to believe in hell or Satan. Almost no atheists believed in any of that. But most agnostics (67%) and nothings in particular (79%), and 44% of atheists, agreed “some things can’t be explained by science or natural causes.”
Nothings in particular were at least as likely as other Americans to accept various beliefs and practices outside of the Judeo-Christian tradition, including astrology, yoga as a spiritual practice, reincarnation, spiritual energies in physical things, the interaction of spirits of the dead with the living and karma.
In addition to having no religious affiliation, about 9 in 10 nones also don’t consider themselves “religious.” About half of agnostics and those nothings in particular consider themselves “spiritual but not religious.” About two-thirds of nothings in particular consider themselves spiritual, religious or both. Eight in 10 atheists consider themselves neither.
About two-thirds of atheists and agnostics identify as Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party, as do half of nothings in particular, while 13% of atheists, 17% of agnostics and 22% of nothings in particular identify with or lean toward the Republicans.