Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. For the last 15 minutes of our show today, we'll wrap it up with calls from those of you who identify as religious nones. When I say nones, I don't mean nuns in the Catholic sister way. Instead, I'm talking about those of you who, when asked if you identify with any sort of religion, would reply, "None." Listeners, if you are a none, how do you replace the role of religion in your social lives? That is, where do you find community? 212-433-WNYC.

Why do I ask this today? Well, a new poll from Pew shows that 28% of US adults are religiously unaffiliated, describing themselves as atheists, agnostics, or simply nothing in particular when asked about their religion. Now, while this number is less than what Pew had predicted, they report that trends in this country would've had this number at 31% by now.

28% is still a pretty large segment of the population, and it's growing. 28% of Americans fall into this category that in recent years has come to be called Nones, no religious affiliation. Particularly notable for this conversation, Pew shares that religious nones are less engaged in civic life. According to the poll, "nones on average are less likely to vote, less likely to have volunteered lately, less satisfied with their local communities, and less satisfied with their social lives." That's a quote from Pew analyzing the category of nones and what the people who responded that way said about other things in their lives.

Listeners, if you are a none, if this sounds like you, how do you replace what might be for other people the role of religion and not the belief in God, per se? In your community life, where do you find community if you are a none of the above when it comes to religion? 212-433-WNYC. 212-433-9692.

This is a very civically engaged audience generally, and we probably have a lot of nones also. Maybe you can even model this for other people who might not be religiously affiliated but who crave or believe in civic engagement and community-mindedness.

Listeners, if this does sound like you, if you identify as a none, how have you found community without being a member of any kind of religious congregation? 212-433-WNYC. I'll add that Pew highlights that regularly attending religious services, not just identifying as religious, may be the key differentiator between whether or not someone is civically engaged, particularly regarding volunteer work. They report that religiously affiliated people who attend religious services at least once a month volunteer at higher rates 41% than both religiously affiliated people who don't attend services regularly and nones. Each of those groups only volunteer at about a 17% rate. Those who attend services regularly, 41% of them say they volunteer. You get the idea. If you consider yourself none of the above in the religious affiliation category, where do you find community on civic engagement in particular? 212-433-WNYC. We'll take your calls right after this.

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your calls. If you identify as a none, N-O-N-E, as in none of the above in religious affiliation terms, where do you find community? Where do you find civic engagement? Lorenzo in Ridgewood, you're on WNYC. Hi, Lorenzo.

Lorenzo: Hi, Brian. How are you?

Brian Lehrer: Good. How are you? What have you got for us?

Lorenzo: Good. On Thursday, I'm turning 42. In 2015, when I was much younger, I founded my own soccer team. We play in-- We still do it in Williamsburg and it was a lot of fun. We got a group of great guys with very different backgrounds that changed over time. We did a very good third half at the [unintelligible 00:05:05] afterwards.

Now that I'm growing up as an older man for the past four years, three years, I've been the president of my condominium. Unfortunately, I believe that this year I'm going to give up my soccer team because my body cannot handle it anymore. I'm going to try to run for my community board.

Brian Lehrer: That certainly is community engagement. I guess being on your co-op board, that is definitely a kind of civic engagement for people who do it at that micro level. Leah in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Leah.

Leah: Hi, Brian. I was raised religious in a church. I went to church three times a week. In my 20s, I realized that I was a none, N-O-N-E, and found ways to engage in my community by just going out in my community. I'm now in my 30s, living in Inwood, Manhattan. What I like to do is take my dog out. I find local events, go kayaking in the free kayaking areas.

I also wanted to find ways to enrich my life because that's what I was told the church does. I go to a boxing gym in Harlem Women's World of Boxing. That allows me to engage with other women like me who want to find community and also want to be physically enriched and mentally enriched. That's what I like to do. It's really sustained my life in a really positive way.

Brian Lehrer: Good options. Thank you very much, Leah. Good examples for other people who may be looking for things like that. Virginia in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Virginia.

Virginia: Hello, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: Hi, Virginia. Yes, that's you.

Virginia: I've spoken to you many times. I am an atheist, I'd say about 25 years now. I have a very, very full life. I volunteer. I worked for the Board of Elections on election day and early voting. I've been doing that for about 40 years. I teach stained glass at the YMCA. I take acting lessons at the Julliard School. I have a wonderful circle of friends. I am just happy and very satisfied with my life the way it is.

Brian Lehrer: If I'm understanding your timeline right, Virginia, you decided you were an atheist in your 50s. What changed?

Virginia: About [unintelligible 00:07:44]. I was taking some workshop classes, philosophical classes and I learned the history of why we started worshiping deities. That really solidified my question, my understanding of what I felt comfortable with, which was that back when there was no understanding of physical phenomenon like why the sun rises and why the moon appears, people invented gods to explain that so that they weren't so fearful of that. When I started thinking about that more and more, I became much more determined that I was not going to be--

Brian Lehrer: Tied to a religion.

Virginia: I'm very careful with my words because I do not want to offend anybody who believes because that's their prerogative. I do not proselytize. I do not tell other people what they should believe or not believe, but I believe that God is an entity that has been made up of a [unintelligible 00:09:12].

Brian Lehrer: There you go. Virginia, thank you very much for calling in. We appreciate it. Noah in Rockaway Township, you're on WNYC. Hi, Noah.

Noah: Hi, Brian. Thank you for doing this piece and taking my call. Just to comment on your previous caller, I share many views but come from a different perspective. I'm a third-generation atheist who is uncomfortable with the word atheist since it describes me in terms of theism. In my heart of hearts, I think that some, but not all aspects of many [unintelligible 00:09:40] could be called a science.

We are each free to believe what we want. In my experience working for human rights and nonprofits, I've met many people who are motivated by their faith to do good works without denying science. That's where I found community shared with people of faith, not just with other atheists, but the denial-- [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: Let me jump in and ask you a question because you said third-generation atheist, but you're not comfortable with the word. I noticed that in the Pew survey, they don't ask about atheism. They ask if people identify with any sort of religion. That's where the category none comes from. People who say none. Does that strike you as different from being an atheist?

Noah: I like that. I've identified maybe I will redefine myself as none. I've always identified as an atheist just from my history, but I was not familiar with that survey until you started describing it, but I like that term better.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much, Noah. Appreciate it a lot. Mary in Fairfield County, you're on WNYC. Hi, Mary.

Mary: Hi, Brian. I found that survey really hard to believe. I'm 80 years old. I'm learning a new language with a group that meets every single week, so we have a social group there. I'm a certified dog trainer, which I did in my 60s, and I'm offering free dog training sessions for anyone who adopts from a shelter rather than buying a dog. I had a third thing. [chuckles] I can't remember what it was. I'm on the board of directors of an organization that teaches English to foreigners for free. We tutor people. It's really fun. I love being a none.

Brian Lehrer: Does it surprise you, given your own involvement in the things you just listed and listening to some of the other callers here, that the stats were so stark on the difference between people who are in religious congregations, the rate at which they do volunteer work, and a much, much, much lower rate among those who are not?

Mary: It not only surprised me, I told your screener, it really shocked me, and I found it hard to believe because, in my social group, there are lots of other people who do the same kinds of things that I do. They find great volunteer work that they enjoy and they engage with people concerning their own interests, and they're very much alive and having a wonderful, fun life, and that's all without church. Not just watch any churchgoers, [chucklees] but I thought the survey was really strange.

Brian Lehrer: Mary, thank you very much. Mary's going to get the last word. Thank you all very much. Yes. We have a lot of nones, N-O-N-E-S, in our listenership, or at least enough to fill the board of 10 lines a couple of times over, and many of you are civically engaged. Maybe there's a little inspiration for some others of you who would fall into that category of nones, but might be feeling a little emptiness, maybe grasping a little bit for some kinds of civic engagement without that easy community, if easy is the right word of a religious congregation from which you come. Thanks for all your calls on that and everything today. Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Stay tuned for Alison.

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