Irreligion
Irreligion denotes the absence, indifference, or explicit rejection of religious beliefs and practices, distinguishing it from mere non-participation by encompassing active disbelief or opposition.[1] It includes categories such as atheism, defined as the lack of belief in deities; agnosticism, the view that the existence of deities is unknown or unknowable; and broader secular orientations that prioritize empirical reasoning over supernatural claims.[2] Globally, irreligion has grown substantially, with 24.2% of the world's population identifying as religiously unaffiliated in 2020, up from approximately 16% in 2010, reflecting demographic shifts including lower fertility rates among the unaffiliated and switching from religious affiliations in numerous countries.[3] This trend manifests unevenly, with the highest proportions in East Asian nations like China, where state policies promote atheism, and in parts of Europe such as the Czech Republic, where over 70% report no religious affiliation.[4] In Western countries, irreligion correlates with higher levels of education, urbanization, and skepticism toward institutional religion, contributing to secular governance and cultural norms emphasizing individual autonomy over doctrinal adherence.[5] Defining characteristics include advocacy for separation of church and state, reliance on scientific evidence for worldview formation, and philosophical frameworks like humanism that derive ethics from human experience rather than divine command, though irreligion faces controversies over its implications for social cohesion and moral foundations in diverse societies.[6]Definition and Terminology
Core Definition
Irreligion refers to the absence of religious beliefs, practices, or affiliations, encompassing positions ranging from indifference to explicit rejection of religious doctrines and institutions.[7] This includes individuals who do not identify with any organized faith or endorse supernatural claims typically associated with religions, such as deities, afterlife, or divine revelation.[8] In dictionary usage, it contrasts with religiosity by denoting a lack of piety or commitment to sacred traditions, without implying adherence to an alternative ideology.[9] While some interpretations emphasize hostility or opposition to religion—viewing it as impiety or antagonism toward faith-based systems—others treat it as neutral non-participation, distinct from active disbelief.[7][10] For instance, sociological analyses often frame irreligion broadly to include those who simply do not engage with religious communities, rather than requiring philosophical argumentation against theism.[11] This broader scope differentiates irreligion from narrower categories like atheism, which specifically denies the existence of gods, or agnosticism, which asserts uncertainty about divine matters; irreligious individuals may hold either view or neither, prioritizing empirical or secular worldviews instead.[12][13] In empirical surveys, irreligion manifests as self-reported "no religion" or "unaffiliated" status, capturing diverse motivations from rational skepticism to cultural disconnection, without presupposing uniform ideological commitment.[12] This measurement approach, used by organizations tracking global belief trends, highlights irreligion's prevalence in modern societies but underscores definitional challenges, as respondents may vary in their rejection of spiritual elements versus institutional religion alone.[12]Etymology and Usage
The term irreligion originates from Late Latin irreligiosus, formed by combining the negating prefix in- ("not") with religiosus ("religious" or "pious"), initially denoting impiety, irreverence toward the divine, or disregard for sacred obligations.[14] This Late Latin root, in turn, derives from irreligiō or irreligiōn-em, blending in- with religiō ("religion" or "obligation to the gods"), reflecting an early connotation of failing to fulfill religious duties rather than mere absence of belief.[15] The word entered Middle French as irréligion before appearing in English by the late 16th century, coinciding with the Protestant Reformation's erosion of monolithic religious authority and the rise of individual skepticism.[8] In modern usage, irreligion serves as an umbrella term for the lack, rejection, or indifference to organized religious beliefs, doctrines, and practices, distinguishing it from narrower concepts like atheism—which specifically entails disbelief in deities or the divine—or agnosticism, which posits uncertainty or unknowability about supernatural existence.[16] Unlike atheism's focus on theistic claims, irreligion accommodates a spectrum of non-participatory stances, including those of "nones" who affiliate with no religion yet may retain cultural rituals or vague spirituality without doctrinal commitment, as observed in surveys where 28% of U.S. adults in 2024 self-identified as religiously unaffiliated across atheist, agnostic, or "nothing in particular" categories.[12] Historically, the term carried pejorative undertones of moral or social deviance in religious societies, but contemporary applications emphasize empirical self-reporting in demographic studies, avoiding conflation with active antireligious activism.[17] This breadth allows irreligion to capture implicit non-belief in secularizing contexts, where individuals eschew institutional religion without philosophical elaboration on gods.[18]Types and Variants
Explicit Non-Belief Forms
Explicit non-belief forms involve conscious positions rejecting or withholding assent to the existence of deities or supernatural entities, often derived from rational evaluation of evidence or logical inconsistencies in theistic claims. These differ from implicit non-belief, such as in infants or those unaware of theistic propositions, by requiring deliberate consideration and affirmation of disbelief.[2][19] Atheism constitutes a central explicit form, characterized as the lack of belief in deities. Philosophers distinguish weak (or negative) atheism, which asserts only the absence of theistic belief without claiming definitive knowledge of non-existence, from strong (or positive) atheism, which explicitly denies the existence of any gods based on evidential or argumentative grounds. Weak atheism aligns with positions where the burden of proof is placed on theists, as no compelling evidence supports theistic claims. Strong atheism, conversely, advances affirmative arguments, such as the problem of evil or inconsistencies in divine attributes, to conclude non-existence.[2][19][20] Agnosticism represents another explicit stance, focusing on the epistemological limits of knowing divine existence. Termed by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869 to denote suspension of judgment due to insufficient evidence, it holds that the truth about deities is either currently unknown or inherently unknowable. Agnosticism is orthogonal to atheism: an agnostic atheist lacks belief in gods while acknowledging uncertainty, whereas an agnostic theist believes despite epistemic humility. This position critiques both dogmatic theism and unsubstantiated atheistic certainty, emphasizing empirical verifiability.[2][21][22] Other variants include ignosticism, which contends that the concept of a deity is too vaguely defined to warrant belief or disbelief, rendering theistic debates semantically incoherent until clarified. These forms collectively prioritize reason and evidence over faith, though surveys indicate self-identification varies; for instance, many who lack belief prefer "agnostic" to avoid connotations of militancy associated with "atheist."[2][23]Implicit and Cultural Forms
Implicit irreligion refers to the absence of religious belief or active theistic commitment without an explicit rejection of religion, often manifesting as indifference or unexamined non-affiliation rather than deliberate skepticism.[19] This form contrasts with explicit non-belief by lacking conscious deliberation, encompassing individuals who simply do not hold or prioritize religious views amid daily life.[24] In contemporary surveys, implicit irreligion appears prominently among the "religiously unaffiliated" or "nones," particularly those identifying as "nothing in particular." In the United States, as of 2024, 28% of adults fall into this unaffiliated category, with approximately two-thirds classified as "nothing in particular" rather than atheists or agnostics; many in this subgroup report vague spiritual leanings or belief in a higher power without institutional ties.[12] Globally, nones often outnumber explicit atheists and agnostics, with "nothing in particular" responses predominant in regions like Western Europe and East Asia, where up to 70% may express non-affiliation yet retain openness to supernatural elements.[25] Cultural forms of irreligion involve selective engagement with religious traditions as social or heritage practices, detached from doctrinal adherence or personal faith. In Japan, where surveys indicate about 70% of the population holds non-religious sentiments, individuals commonly participate in Shinto shrine visits for New Year's or Buddhist funerals without viewing these as expressions of belief, treating them instead as communal customs rooted in pragmatism and ancestry.[26] This syncretic approach yields formal religious adherents exceeding the population—182 million in 2016—due to multiple nominal affiliations, underscoring irreligion's compatibility with ritual observance.[27] In Western Europe, cultural Christianity exemplifies this pattern, where non-practicing individuals—comprising a majority of self-identified Christians—celebrate holidays like Christmas or Easter for familial and seasonal reasons, while rarely attending services or affirming core tenets.[28] Such practices preserve social cohesion and historical identity amid broader secularization, differing from unaffiliated nones primarily in nominal labeling rather than behavioral rejection of tradition.[29] These implicit and cultural variants highlight irreligion's spectrum, where empirical data reveal non-affiliation often coexists with residual or instrumental religiosity, challenging binary categorizations of belief and unbelief.[25]Historical Development
Ancient and Pre-Modern Instances
In ancient India, the Cārvāka (or Lokāyata) school represented an early materialist philosophy that explicitly rejected the existence of gods, an afterlife, karma, and the authority of the Vedas, relying solely on direct perception as a valid means of knowledge.[30] This tradition, traceable to at least the 6th century BCE through references in texts like the Sarvadarśanasaṃgraha, emphasized sensory experience and hedonistic ethics, dismissing supernatural explanations for natural phenomena as unprovable.[31] Cārvāka thinkers critiqued ritualistic practices and priestly authority, arguing that consciousness arises from the body like intoxication from fermented liquids, with no enduring soul.[30] In ancient Greece, explicit skepticism toward traditional gods emerged among certain philosophers and poets in the 5th century BCE. Diagoras of Melos, dubbed "the Atheist," was prosecuted around 415 BCE for mocking the Eleusinian Mysteries and denying divine intervention, leading to his exile from Athens.[32] Protagoras of Abdera expressed agnosticism by stating, "Concerning the gods I am unable to say whether they exist or not," resulting in his books being burned and expulsion from Athens circa 411 BCE.[33] Atomists like Democritus (c. 460–370 BCE) posited a mechanistic universe of indivisible particles in void, reducing phenomena to chance collisions without need for divine creation or providence.[34] Roman Epicureanism, building on Greek atomism, promoted irreligion through denial of active godly involvement in human affairs. Lucretius (c. 99–55 BCE) in De Rerum Natura argued that gods, if existent, reside in distant intermundia unaffected by the world, rendering religious fears of divine punishment irrational and advocating a life free from superstitious piety.[34] Such views faced persecution, as seen in the execution of philosopher Theodorus of Cyrene (c. 300 BCE) for atheism.[32] In ancient China, Confucian thought from the 6th–5th centuries BCE emphasized ethical humanism and ritual over theistic devotion, with Confucius (551–479 BCE) treating "Heaven" as an impersonal cosmic order rather than a personal deity demanding worship.[35] Legalist philosophers like Han Feizi (c. 280–233 BCE) focused on statecraft and human nature without invoking supernatural sanctions, prioritizing empirical governance over religious cosmology.[35] However, these strands coexisted with folk animism and ancestor veneration, limiting widespread irreligion. Pre-modern instances in monotheistic regions were rarer and more covert due to severe penalties, including execution for heresy. In medieval Europe, accusations of atheism surfaced against figures like the poet Cecco d'Ascoli, burned at the stake in 1327 for denying divine foreknowledge, though such cases often conflated doubt with sorcery. Underground skepticism persisted among some intellectuals, but explicit irreligion remained marginal until the Renaissance, suppressed by inquisitorial authorities enforcing orthodoxy.[36] In Islamic contexts, occasional materialist critiques appeared, such as in the writings of Rhazes (865–925 CE), who questioned prophetic miracles, but these were outliers amid dominant theism.[37]Enlightenment to 19th Century
The Enlightenment, spanning roughly the mid-17th to late 18th centuries, marked a pivotal intellectual shift in Europe toward empirical reason and skepticism of traditional religious authority, fostering early expressions of irreligion through deism and clandestine atheism.[38] Thinkers like David Hume critiqued organized religion in works such as The Natural History of Religion (1757), arguing that beliefs arose from human fears and superstitions rather than divine revelation, leading to accusations of atheism despite his agnostic leanings.[39] In France, Denis Diderot and Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach, advanced explicit atheism; d'Holbach's System of Nature (1770) posited a materialist universe devoid of supernatural intervention, influencing underground networks of freethinkers.[40] These ideas circulated secretly due to persecution risks, with atheism remaining a minority stance amid dominant deism, which accepted a creator but rejected revelation and clergy.[39] The French Revolution (1789–1799) represented the first state-sponsored push toward irreligion, culminating in the dechristianization campaign of 1793–1794 during the Reign of Terror.[41] Radical Jacobins, influenced by Enlightenment materialism, enacted laws closing churches, confiscating ecclesiastical property, and mandating civil oaths that forced approximately 30,000 priests into exile or execution for non-compliance; public worship was suppressed, and revolutionary cults like the Cult of Reason promoted atheistic festivals.[42] This policy, driven by anti-clericalism viewing the Catholic Church as allied with monarchy, briefly aimed to eradicate Christianity but faltered amid social chaos, ending with Maximilien Robespierre's 1794 decree establishing the deistic Cult of the Supreme Being.[43] In the 19th century, irreligion evolved into organized freethought and secularism, particularly in Britain and parts of Europe, propelled by industrialization, scientific advances, and lingering revolutionary ideals.[44] George Jacob Holyoake coined "secularism" in 1851, advocating a non-religious ethics based on evidence and utility, separate from theistic metaphysics; he faced imprisonment in 1842 as the last Briton convicted for atheism.[45] Freethought societies proliferated, challenging biblical literalism amid Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859), though explicit atheism remained marginal, often conflated with radical politics; by mid-century, secular publications and lectures promoted irreligion as compatible with moral progress without divine sanction.[44] This era saw irreligion transition from elite philosophy to public discourse, laying groundwork for later mass secularization, though church attendance persisted among majorities.[46]20th Century State Imposition
In the 20th century, several communist regimes pursued state-imposed irreligion as a core policy, rooted in Marxist-Leninist ideology that viewed religion as an instrument of class oppression and a barrier to proletarian revolution.[47] This led to systematic campaigns of persecution, closure of religious institutions, and promotion of scientific atheism through state organizations. The Soviet Union under Bolshevik rule from 1917 onward exemplified this approach, declaring religion a hindrance to socialist progress and initiating aggressive anti-religious measures.[48] The Soviet campaign intensified after the 1917 Revolution, with the 1918 decree on separation of church and state evolving into active suppression. By 1939, only about 200 Orthodox churches remained open from approximately 46,000 prior to the Revolution, as clergy were executed, imprisoned, or exiled and thousands of religious sites were destroyed or repurposed.[48] The League of Militant Atheists, established in 1925, grew to millions of members by the late 1920s, propagating anti-religious propaganda and mobilizing public actions against believers. Under Nikita Khrushchev in the late 1950s, a renewed drive closed an additional 20,000 churches between 1958 and 1964, enforcing official atheism while underground religious practice persisted despite severe penalties.[49] In the People's Republic of China, following the 1949 communist victory, Mao Zedong's policies escalated during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, where Red Guards targeted religious sites as symbols of feudalism and superstition. Buddhist temples, Taoist shrines, Christian churches, and mosques were looted, desecrated, or demolished en masse, with monks and clergy subjected to public humiliation, forced labor, or execution.[50] This destruction extended to cultural artifacts, effectively eradicating public religious expression and aligning with the regime's aim to replace traditional beliefs with Maoist ideology. Albania under Enver Hoxha represented the most explicit declaration of state atheism, with the 1967 constitution proclaiming it the world's first atheist state and banning all religious practices, institutions, and symbols.[51] Churches, mosques, and monasteries—over 2,000 in total—were closed, demolished, or converted, while possessing religious texts or artifacts became punishable by imprisonment or death. Hoxha's regime, influenced by Stalinist models, enforced this through surveillance and indoctrination, though private belief endured covertly. Similar impositions occurred in other communist states, such as Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge (1975–1979), where nearly all monks were killed and pagodas destroyed, and North Korea, where Juche ideology supplanted religion with state worship. These policies, driven by the causal logic of totalitarian control over ideology, resulted in millions of deaths and widespread cultural erasure, yet failed to eliminate religiosity entirely, as evidenced by post-regime revivals.[52]Post-1945 to Present
![Countries by percentage of unaffiliated (Pew Research 2010)][float-right] Following World War II, irreligion expanded significantly in regions under communist governance, where state atheism became official policy. In the Soviet Union, anti-religious campaigns intensified after a brief wartime relaxation, with the number of active Russian Orthodox churches declining from around 20,000 in 1948 to fewer than 6,000 by 1985 due to closures and restrictions on religious practice.[53] Similarly, in China after the 1949 Communist Revolution, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) denounced religion as superstition and incompatible with Marxism-Leninism, leading to the suppression of religious institutions and promotion of atheism through education and propaganda.[54] By 2012, a Gallup poll reported 47% of Chinese as convinced atheists and 30% as non-religious in belief, though folk practices persisted informally.[55] In Eastern Europe and other communist states, such as Albania, which declared itself the world's first atheist state in 1967 by banning all religious activity, irreligion was enforced through legal prohibitions and persecution, resulting in near-total suppression of organized religion until the 1990s.[51] Post-communist transitions saw partial religious revivals in some countries like Poland and Russia, but others, including the Czech Republic, retained high levels of irreligion, with surveys indicating over 70% unaffiliated by the 2010s. In Asia beyond China, countries like Japan and Vietnam exhibited elevated irreligion, influenced by both communist policies in the latter and historical cultural factors, with Vietnam's state maintaining Marxist-Leninist atheism since unification in 1976.[56] Western Europe experienced accelerated secularization after 1945, marked by declining church attendance and affiliation. In countries like France and the United Kingdom, regular churchgoing fell from over 40% in the 1950s to under 10% by the 2000s, driven by urbanization, scientific advancements, and cultural shifts away from institutional religion.[57] This trend contrasted with a temporary post-war religious resurgence in the United States, where church membership peaked at 70% in the 1950s, but by 2024, Pew Research found 28% of U.S. adults religiously unaffiliated ("nones"), up from about 5% in the 1970s, with the share stabilizing somewhat after rapid growth in the 2010s.[12] The U.S. rise correlates with generational shifts, as 40% of millennials identified as unaffiliated by 2019.[58] Globally, while irreligion grew in developed regions, the proportion of unaffiliated individuals remained stable at around 16% from 1980 to 2020, offset by higher religiosity in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.[59] In East Asia, high unaffiliation persists, with South Korea at about 50% non-religious by recent surveys, reflecting modernization and weak institutional ties to religion. These patterns highlight regionally divergent drivers, including state policies in atheist regimes and voluntary disaffiliation in liberal democracies, though empirical data from sources like Pew underscore that global atheism prevalence has not surged uniformly.[60]Demographics and Geography
Global Prevalence
![Countries by percentage of religiously unaffiliated (Pew Research, 2010)][float-right] As of 2020, approximately 1.9 billion people worldwide, representing 24.2% of the global population, identified as religiously unaffiliated, meaning they did not adhere to any organized religion.[3] This figure marked a 17% increase from 1.6 billion in 2010, outpacing overall population growth and reflecting a slight rise in the unaffiliated share from about 23% to 24%.[61] The unaffiliated category encompasses atheists, agnostics, and those selecting "none" in surveys, though many retain spiritual or supernatural beliefs, with surveys indicating that a majority of nones in various regions endorse ideas like an afterlife or a higher power.[25] The largest concentrations of unaffiliated individuals occur in East Asia, particularly China, where over 700 million people—more than half the national population—report no religious affiliation, driven by historical state atheism under communism and cultural secularism.[62] Europe follows, with countries like the Czech Republic, Estonia, and the United Kingdom showing unaffiliated rates exceeding 30-50% in national censuses and surveys, attributable to post-Enlightenment secularization and declining institutional religion.[3] In contrast, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East-North Africa region exhibit the lowest rates, often below 5%, where traditional and Abrahamic faiths remain deeply embedded in social structures.[3] Explicit irreligion, such as self-identified atheism or agnosticism, constitutes a smaller subset globally, estimated at 2-7% depending on survey methodology and regional focus, with higher explicit non-belief in urbanized, educated demographics in Western nations and parts of Asia.[25] Data reliability varies, as self-reported affiliation can understate irreligion in religiously repressive societies and overstate it where social desirability biases responses toward secularism; cross-national surveys like those from Pew and Gallup consistently highlight China, Japan, and Vietnam as harboring the world's largest irreligious populations in absolute terms.[3]Regional and National Patterns
Irreligion displays pronounced regional variations, with the highest proportions concentrated in East Asia and select European nations. As of 2020, the Asia-Pacific region accounted for the majority of the global religiously unaffiliated population, estimated at 1.9 billion worldwide, driven primarily by China where over 700 million individuals lack formal religious affiliation due to state-enforced atheism and cultural syncretism.[61] In contrast, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East exhibit near-total religious adherence, with irreligion rates below 5% in most countries.[61] In East Asia, Japan reports irreligion rates exceeding 80%, with surveys indicating 86% of the population identifying as non-religious, reflecting a cultural emphasis on secular rituals over doctrinal belief.[63] Similarly, Vietnam and South Korea show high unaffiliation, around 81% and 60% respectively, where traditional practices persist without exclusive religious commitment.[64] China's figures, often cited at 91% atheist or unaffiliated, stem from communist policies suppressing organized religion since 1949, though underground folk beliefs may inflate actual practice beyond official tallies.[63][65] Europe features elevated irreligion in post-communist states and Scandinavia. The Czech Republic leads with approximately 75-78% of its population irreligious, a legacy of Habsburg-era skepticism compounded by 20th-century state atheism under Soviet influence.[63][4] Sweden follows closely at 78%, per 2023 Gallup data, where secular welfare systems correlate with declining church attendance since the 1960s.[66] Estonia and other Baltic nations exceed 60%, contrasting with more religious Southern Europe.[4] In the Americas, patterns diverge sharply. North America sees rising unaffiliation, reaching 29% in the United States by 2020, up from 16% in 2007, amid cultural shifts toward individualism.[67] Latin America maintains lower rates, though Uruguay and Chile report over 30% irreligious, influenced by urbanization.[67] Australia aligns with Western trends at around 30-40% unaffiliated.[67]| Country | Estimated Irreligion Rate (%) | Primary Source |
|---|---|---|
| Czech Republic | 75-78 | Gallup/Times of India[63] |
| Japan | 86 | Various surveys[63] |
| Sweden | 78 | Gallup 2023[66] |
| China | 91 | State data/surveys[63] |
| Estonia | 60 | World Population Review[4] |