Unaffiliated
Unaffiliated is a term used to refer to individuals who are not aligned with a group or ideology, especially a particular religion.[1][2] According to the Pew Research Center, this group includes atheists, agnostics, and people who describe their religion as "nothing in particular".[2] However, not all individuals who are unaffiliated are necessarily irreligious.[3] The "nothing in particular" group can be further divided into "secular unaffiliated" and "religious unaffiliated".[2]
Studies
The “Faith in Flux: Changes in Religious Affiliation in the U.S.” study found that more than 16 percent of all Americans were unaffiliated,[4] while a report in 2000 based on congregation responses finds that number to be 37%.[5]
According to a study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, among depressed inpatients, "religiously unaffiliated subjects had significantly more lifetime suicide attempts and more first-degree relatives who committed suicide than subjects who endorsed a religious affiliation."[6] Moreover, depressed inpatients with no religious affiliation had fewer moral objections to suicide than believers.[6]
References
- ^ Tom Flynn; Richard Dawkins. "The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief". Prometheus Books. http://books.google.com/books?id=YR4RAQAAIAAJ&q=unaffiliated+irreligious&dq=unaffiliated+irreligious&hl=en&ei=1m6uTdDDLKLa0QGT5KHCCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAg. 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 ..."
- ^ a b c "Unaffiliated". Pew Research Center. http://pewforum.org/Topics/Religious-Affiliation/Unaffiliated/. Retrieved 2011-04-21. "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.”"
- ^ "Religion in the Contemporary South: Changes, Continuities, and Contexts". University of Tennessee Press. http://books.google.com/books?id=aHSqIWYQWjUC&pg=PA127&dq=unaffiliated+irreligious&hl=en&ei=YnOuTa6sKuPZ0QGM2J2QCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=unaffiliated%20irreligious&f=false. 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."
- ^ Robert Marus. "Study: Ranks of religiously unaffiliated remain open to faith". Associated Baptist Press. http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/4035/53/. Retrieved 13 November 2010. "The “Faith in Flux: Changes in Religious Affiliation in the U.S.” study involved in-depth interviews with more than 2,800 people who had responded to the earlier “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey," which found that more than 16 percent of all Americans were not affiliated with any particular religious group."
- ^ "The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), Year 2000 Report". http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/reports/US_2000.asp. Retrieved 2011-04-21. Churches were asked for their membership numbers. ARDA estimates that most of the churches not reporting were black Protestant congregations.
- ^ a b Michael Martin. "Religious Affiliation and Suicide Attempt". American Psychiatric Association. http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/161/12/2303. Retrieved 2011-04-21. "Religious affiliation is associated with less suicidal behavior in depressed inpatients. After other factors were controlled, it was found that greater moral objections to suicide and lower aggression level in religiously affiliated subjects may function as protective factors against suicide attempts."
External links