Tuesday, October 28, 2003
When 'No Religion' Takes First Place
A 2001 religious identification survey undertaken by the City University of New York, found that Oregon ranked No. 1 in terms of residents who choose "no religion" as their religious identification. In four states, "no religion" ranked highest among available options. The other states were Idaho, Washington, and Wyoming. An article by Jeff Wright published in the Eugene, Oregon, Register-Guard, reports: "The number of Americans who claim no religious identity in surveys, dubbed "nones" by experts, has roughly doubled in the past decade, making them possibly the third-largest group in the nation, after Catholics and Baptists."
Further evidence comes from the Glenmary Research Center, which reported in 2002 that several cities located in Southern Oregon, and Northern California are those "where Americans are least likely to have a religious affiliation."
These statistics require some further investigation. For one thing, the City University study listed major Christian denominations as individual choices on the survey. Taken together, more participants identified with some form of Christianity than with non-belief. Still, the fact that "no religion" ranked first remains significant.
The Pacific Northwest has long been identified with an independent streak and secular tendencies. Jeff Wright, however, argues that this does not mean that residents are non-religious. "Americans who pick no religion say they believe in God," reports Wright, "and often pray or meditate--habits not that different from the folks who fill the pews each Sunday."
Then again, their beliefs are often very different from those involved in organized Christianity. The Register-Guard article tells of Christopher James, a 28 year old Oregonian, whose spirituality is based in nature. "When I get out into nature, immediately I can feel my body chemistry change, " he said. "It is such a physical experience, it affects the rest of me."
James is one of those who identifies himself as having "no religion." He works for the non-profit Sustainable Forestry Project, and claims, "I do believe in a higher power. For me, it exists more in the order of the universe and everyday life."
This secularizing trend may indeed point to the future of the Pacific Northwest and neighboring states. The more pressing question is whether the rest of the nation will follow these same patterns.
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