I was raised outside of organized religion, in a spiritual-but-not-religious home. I obviously did not stay a "none." I'm a pastor in the United Church of Christ and I try, for better or worse, to live my life according to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Although some scholars have used the label since at least the 1960s, the ongoing discussions about Nones have popularized this new identity out of nothing. And this has significant potential to influence society.

We are a generation overwhelmingly dedicated to social justice. This impulse can be religiously motivated, much as it has been for me. Yet for many, it is rooted in a fundamental belief in the goodness of people.

Treasuring the freedom that allows us to honor our unique ancient traditions while keeping up with the times, we propose adjusting these special Sundays in the church year.

What if part of the reason the "Nones" are so underwhelmed by organized religion isn't because they don't find Jesus interesting, but because it appears to them that Christians don't find him sufficiently interesting enough to take seriously?

If you're a reader of the New York Times, you'd have good reason to the conclusion that the United States -- and indeed the world -- is becoming less and less religious. And yet, this is misleading.

Why is it that we can be "friends" with thousands on Facebook and literally find the answers to unfathomable questions, and still be searching? People today are exploring every avenue looking to add meaning and resolution to their lives.

I once belonged more to the "Nones" than anything else. I checked Jewish on the box, but that mark was more about a cultural than religious identity. In my teens, I felt disconnected from Judaism. I was a religious school dropout at 12. But at age 41, I was in a much different place.

It might be that our first job in responding to the rise of the "Nones" is that we should stop creating so many of them through our own arrogance and our attempts to judge others, contrary to Christ's express instruction.

Religion did and will survive the Internet and, at least when we're talking about shifts in demographics, we probably should forget the Internet.

People are more religious than they give themselves credit for. But who are these new gods, what is this new spirituality, and what is the object of our new belief?

David Niose, president for the Secular Coalition of America and author of "Nonbeliever Nation," joined Ahmed on HuffPost Live to discuss the decline o...

By Daniel Burke Religion News Service (RNS) Despite a deep drop in the number of Americans who identify with a particular faith, the country could...

The Christian faith is in decline in Europe and is pretty much stagnant in the United States. The great churches in Europe are mostly empty, and the number of people respond "None" when asked about a religious commitment in the United States is growing.

I'm 23, recite the Creed without crossing my fingers, and think seriously and critically about my faith. Furthermore, not only am I in seminary to be an ordained minister, but -- GASP! -- I'm also doing so in a mainline denomination. How can this be? It defies all logic!

"People don't want to have to side with the church and against their friends who are Buddhist or Muslim or Jewish or agnostic."

OK, church folks. Fasten your seatbelts. But don't hunker down. There's a new study out that shows that one in five Americans has no religious affiliation. Not Baptist, not Catholic, not Lutheran, not Jewish, not Muslim.

Sarah Garrison grew up Catholic, but today she does not consider herself part of any religion. Yet as someone who meditates and prays every day to the...

The nones also include a large group of people who switch their preferences over time, and continue to attend a particular congregation and express belief in God.

To maintain their congregations, churches will have to recruit immigrants and the young, and to recruit the immigrants and the young, their politics will have to shift left.