How Will Religious “Nones” Affect the Future of the World?

By Kelly Frazier --
24 Mar 2016 --

Religion is at an all time low among America’s young adults, but how will it affect the future?

If you ask the young people of America (in their 20s and early 30s) what their religion is, many of them would say none. When it comes to young Americans and religion, the situation has come to such a point that there is now an academic nickname for those who have disaffiliated themselves religiously, “nones.” Young Americans account for more than a third of America's “'nones.” Even, many of the religiously affiliated hardly attend regular church services. There was a time when religion was a mode of life, but this is not true anymore. This new way of life of “nones” is also affecting the way of life of many religious people as well. It paves the path for chosen beliefs and practices rather than inherited ones.

How Will Religious “Nones” Affect the Future of the World?[/tweetthis]

Religion affects the course of your life, it even affects your life duration. Religion makes people engaged, happy, and healthier. Compared to a non-religious person, a religious person has a more satisfied love life. People who attend church services regularly are found to have a greater tendency to exercise, which in turn, provides for cardiovascular health and overall general health. It has also been found that people who take part in religious services tend to drink less and smoke less. According to research conducted by the NIH (National Institutes of Health), regular church service attendance is so healthy that it actually results in longevity. Religion actually creates a foundation for social and communal life. It provides a set of behavioral rules that society can follow to lead a harmonious life. It can essentially take the pain and exhaustion of everyday life away.

It is also a fact that it is not just the people, especially young people, who are becoming less religious, but the whole country itself. The country is becoming religiously diverse in many ways. In a broad sense, it is happening all around the world as well. Young people are changing religion, moving to different places, and changing the way of following rituals and laws. According to a U.S. case study, immigrants are changing the religious ways by introducing their cultural practices. The foundation of white Protestants is cracking. Long-term standing between religion and the government is changing, it is no longer firm like the way it used to be.

This changing behavior has a lot of people concerned about the future of religion, and that of the health of the modern society in terms of moral values.