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Irreligion is an absence of, indifference towards, or hostility towards religion. Defined as hostility to religion, it includes antitheism and antireligion. Defined as indifference to religion, it includes apatheism. Defined as the rejection of religious belief it includes atheism and secular humanism. Defined as the absence of religious belief it may include some people who would be included under agnosticism, ignosticism, nontheism, religious skepticism, freethought, non-believer. Irreligion may also encompass those who are unaffiliated. Irreligion may even include forms of theism depending on the religious context it is defined against, like for instance in 18th Century Europe where the epitome of irreligion was Deism.

1.1 billion people (16% of the world population) are considered non-religious. Some evidence suggests that the the fastest growing religious status is actually "no religion" in the United States.

Demographics

Main article: Irreligion by country

Studies

A comprehensive study by Harvard University professor Robert Putnam found that religious people are three to four times more likely than their nonreligious counterparts to "work on community projects, belong to voluntary associations, attend public meetings, vote in local elections, attend protest demonstrations and political rallies, and donate time and money to causes -- including secular ones."

See also

• Irreligion by country
• Importance of religion by country
• Marxism
• Anti-clericalism
• Antireligion
• Agnosticism
• Atheism
• Deism
• Humanism
• Ignosticism
• Nontheism
• Nontheistic religions
• Post-theism
• Skepticism
• Spiritual But Not Religious
• Transtheistic

References

1. Irreligion. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. (accessed: December 14, 2008).
2. Tom Flynn; Richard Dawkins. "The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief". Prometheus Books. Retrieved 13 November 2010. With respect to understanding the irreligious, however, the relevance of data on apostates depends upon the orientation they have adopted by the time they are studied (such as unaffiliated religious belief, no stated religious ...{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
3. "Unaffiliated". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 2010-12-02. Pew Forum publications—including public opinion polls, demographic reports, research studies, event transcripts and interviews—about people who are unaffiliated with any particular religion. This group includes atheists, agnostics and people who describe their religion as "nothing in particular."
4. "Religion in the Contemporary South: Changes, Continuities, and Contexts". University of Tennessee Press. Retrieved 2010-12-02. Unaffiliated persons are not necessarily hostile to religion or even irreligious. Yet, as the proportion of unaffiliated persons grows, it will be increasingly difficult to assume that there is a religious base, such as Reed's orthodox Protestant consensus, supporting southern culture.
5. Campbell, Colin. 1971. Towards a Sociology of Irreligion. London:McMillan p. 31.
6. [http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html
7. American Nones: The Profile of the No Religion Population A Report Based on the American Religious Identification Survey 2008
8. Based on the data of the Dentsu Communication Institute and the data of Zuckerman. Largest values taken.
9. The Religiosity Index is a measure of the importance of religion for respondents and their self-reported attendance of religious services. For religions in which attendance at services is limited, care must be used in interpreting the data. (Gallup WorldView)
10. ^ Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)Template:Ja icon
11. Gallup poll
12. "Albania". State.gov. 2006-09-15. Retrieved 2011-02-04. US Department of State - International religious freedom report 2006
13. L'Albanie en 2005
14. "Adherents.com". Adherents.com. Retrieved 2011-02-04. Some publications
15. "Adherents.com". Adherents.com. Retrieved 2011-02-04. Some publications
16. Czech statistical bureau (2001 census)
17. ^ Zuckerman, Phil. "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns", Part of The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, Michael Martin, modified by the University of Cambridge Pres: Cambridge, BK (2005)
18. Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau
19. Statistics New Zealand (2006 census)
20. "fowid - Forschungsgruppe Weltanschauungen in Deutschland: Home". Fowid.de. Retrieved 2011-02-04. German Worldview Research Group (2004)
21. "Insee". Insee.fr. Retrieved 2011-02-04. INSEE (2004 survey)
22. "2914.0.55.002 - 2006 Census of Population and Housing: Media Releases and Fact Sheets, 2006". Abs.gov.au. 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2011-02-04. Australian Statistics Bureau (2006 census)
23. Socialogical Research Centre (2005)
24. UK National Statistics Bureau (2001 census)
25. "96F0030XIE2001015 - Religions in Canada". 2.statcan.ca. Retrieved 2011-02-04. Canada 2001 census
26. "Table Of Statistics On Religion In The Americas". Prolades.com. Retrieved 2011-02-04. Gallup-Argentina survey, April 2001
27. Güney Afrika 2001 census
28. US-American Religious Classification Research (2001), US Census Bureau
29. "Microsoft Word - PDR 2006.doc" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-02-04. Central Statistics Bureau of Ireland 2006 census
30. "Religious people make better citizens, study says". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 2007–10–18. The scholars say their studies found that religious people are three to four times more likely to be involved in their community. They are more apt than nonreligious Americans to work on community projects, belong to voluntary associations, attend public meetings, vote in local elections, attend protest demonstrations and political rallies, and donate time and money to causes -- including secular ones. At the same time, Putnam and Campbell say their data show that religious people are just "nicer": they carry packages for people, don't mind folks cutting ahead in line and give money to panhandlers. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
31. "Religious people are 'better neighbors'". USA Today. Retrieved 2007–10–18. The scholars say their studies found that religious people are three to four times more likely to be involved in their community. They are more apt than nonreligious Americans to work on community projects, belong to voluntary associations, attend public meetings, vote in local elections, attend protest demonstrations and political rallies, and donate time and money to causes — including secular ones. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

External links

• First chapter of Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up by John Allen Paulos

• Irreligion