Why faith losing its hold won't really change the world

Those who identify with no religion are growing but let us not confuse that with the rise of reason

- MANU JOSEPH

A new Pew report shows that the number of people who have quit religion has risen. In such reports, people who say they have no religious affiliation are endearingly called 'Nones'. Between 2010 and 2020, Nones grew by 270 million, second only to those who identify as Muslim. There are 1.9 billion Nones in the world. So roughly every fourth human is a None, with their share of the population having risen over that decade from 23.3% to 24.2%. I suspect this news was received by atheists and their spiritual cousins who say stuff like, "I believe in a force" and other kinds of Nones as a reaffirmation of their superior inner lives. They may have felt the world is finally becoming safer. More sensible. More like them. They might be wrong.

This report on the 'global religious landscape' was published by Pew Research Centre, a US-based think-tank that is deemed particularly reputable when its findings align with one's own worldview. It is one of the world's most cited sources when it comes to global statistics, chiefly for the rigour of its process. This report, for instance, compiled data from dozens of countries, using national census data, demographic studies and other large-scale surveys.

According to the report, Islam is the fastest-growing faith. Between 2010 and 2020, the Muslim population of the world grew by about 347 million, almost entirely through births. Most major religions grew in absolute numbers in that decade, but Islam alone increased its share of the world population, from 23.9% to 25.6%. The Hindu share remained stable at around 15% of the world, while that of Christians reduced by nearly 2%.