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Faith No More: Why People Reject Religion
During his 2009 inaugural speech, President Obama described the United States as a nation of "Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus--and nonbelievers." It was the first time an American president had acknowledged the existence of this rapidly growing segment of the population in such a public forum. And yet the reasons why more and more people are turning away from religion are still poorly understood. In Faith No More, Phil Zuckerman draws on in-depth interviews with people who have left religion to find out what's really behind the process of losing one's faith. According to a 2008 study, so many Americans claim no religion (15%, up from 8% in 1990) that this category now outranks every other religious group except Catholics and Baptists. Exploring the deeper stories within such survey data, Zuckerman shows that leaving one's faith is a highly personal, complex, and drawn-out process. And he finds that, rather than the cliche of the angry, nihilistic atheist, apostates are life-affirming, courageous, highly intelligent and inquisitive, and deeply moral. Zuckerman predicts that this trend toward nonbelief will likely continue and argues that the sooner we recognize that religion is frequently and freely rejected by all sorts of men and women, the sooner our understanding of the human condition will improve. The first book of its kind, Faith No More will appeal to anyone interested in the "New Atheism" and indeed to anyone wishing to more fully understand our changing relationship to religious faith.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 26, 2011
15 people are currently reading
733 people want to read
About the author
Phil Zuckerman
29 books102 followersPhilip "Phil" Zuckerman (born June 26, 1969 in Los Angeles, California) is a professor of sociology at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. He specializes in the sociology of secularity. He is the author of several books, including Society Without God for which he won ForeWord Magazine's silver book of the year award, and Faith No More.
https://www.pitzer.edu/academics/facu...
https://www.pitzer.edu/academics/facu...
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January 19, 2023
“A wind of secularity is blowing across North America.” ~Phil Zuckerman, 2012
A 2021 poll showed that 29% of Americans now claim “none” as their religious affiliation. In 1990 the “nones” hovered around 8%. That’s a 350% increase in the last 30 years. Why?
Zuckerman, a Professor of Sociology, conducted in-depth interviews with 87 American apostates (people who have not only lost their faith in a personal, biblical god but who have also disassociated themselves from religious self-identification). Although his findings are far from conclusive, he does identify many similarities and recurring themes among those who have opted out of faith-based ideologies.
Like most of the secular Americans Zuckerman interviewed, there was no single reason, no miraculous epiphany, that led me to turn my back on supernatural reasoning. It was a slow process with multiple contributing factors. Education, for example, was important for me—as was exposure to multiculturalism, conflicting politics, and recognizing the blatant hypocrisy of the religious-right. Leaving the fold is a very personal and sometimes complicated decision. Every individual chooses their own path and their own pace. For some it’s a nonreligious or indifferent parent, for others it might be misfortune in the tragic loss of a loved one. Still others might feel compelled to distance themselves from the malfeasance of a pedophilic priest or rabbi. It is rarely if ever just one reason and it is rarely if ever a decision made lightly.
“…there is no one single “thing”—be it an experience, event, relationship, and so on—that always, in and of itself, causes apostasy. All the factors …can increase the chances or likelihood that a person will reject religion. And when several of them occur in a given person’s life simultaneously, they become corrosive to religious faith.”
In his concluding summary, Zuckerman also lists personality traits that are near universal within his sampling of American apostates. On the whole, they are courageous (it takes a certain amount of guts to openly reject a faith that permeates one’s own family and social community). They are bright and inquisitive and/or avid readers. They are relatively individualistic and self-reliant. Finally, they are “life-lovers”—focusing on the here and now, not taking this world and their time on it for granted.
__________________________________
“Whosoever disbelieves in Allah… who finds ease in disbelief: On them is wrath from Allah. Theirs will be an awful doom.” ~Sura XVI:106, Qu’ran
“…the unbelieving… their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.” ~Revelation 21:8
__________________________________
“It's our need to believe, and to surrender our skepticism and our reason, our yearning to discard that and put all our trust or faith in someone or something, that is the sinister thing to me.” ~Christopher Hitchens, 2011
A 2021 poll showed that 29% of Americans now claim “none” as their religious affiliation. In 1990 the “nones” hovered around 8%. That’s a 350% increase in the last 30 years. Why?
Zuckerman, a Professor of Sociology, conducted in-depth interviews with 87 American apostates (people who have not only lost their faith in a personal, biblical god but who have also disassociated themselves from religious self-identification). Although his findings are far from conclusive, he does identify many similarities and recurring themes among those who have opted out of faith-based ideologies.
Like most of the secular Americans Zuckerman interviewed, there was no single reason, no miraculous epiphany, that led me to turn my back on supernatural reasoning. It was a slow process with multiple contributing factors. Education, for example, was important for me—as was exposure to multiculturalism, conflicting politics, and recognizing the blatant hypocrisy of the religious-right. Leaving the fold is a very personal and sometimes complicated decision. Every individual chooses their own path and their own pace. For some it’s a nonreligious or indifferent parent, for others it might be misfortune in the tragic loss of a loved one. Still others might feel compelled to distance themselves from the malfeasance of a pedophilic priest or rabbi. It is rarely if ever just one reason and it is rarely if ever a decision made lightly.
“…there is no one single “thing”—be it an experience, event, relationship, and so on—that always, in and of itself, causes apostasy. All the factors …can increase the chances or likelihood that a person will reject religion. And when several of them occur in a given person’s life simultaneously, they become corrosive to religious faith.”
In his concluding summary, Zuckerman also lists personality traits that are near universal within his sampling of American apostates. On the whole, they are courageous (it takes a certain amount of guts to openly reject a faith that permeates one’s own family and social community). They are bright and inquisitive and/or avid readers. They are relatively individualistic and self-reliant. Finally, they are “life-lovers”—focusing on the here and now, not taking this world and their time on it for granted.
__________________________________
“Whosoever disbelieves in Allah… who finds ease in disbelief: On them is wrath from Allah. Theirs will be an awful doom.” ~Sura XVI:106, Qu’ran
“…the unbelieving… their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.” ~Revelation 21:8
__________________________________
“It's our need to believe, and to surrender our skepticism and our reason, our yearning to discard that and put all our trust or faith in someone or something, that is the sinister thing to me.” ~Christopher Hitchens, 2011
February 12, 2012
An interesting sociological study - not specifically on atheism or agnosticism, but apostasy, the act of losing one's faith. Zuckerman doesn't really look at people who have been non-religious their whole lives, but instead does a series of in-depth interviews with people who were once strongly religious and gradually (it's always gradually) lost their belief in God and the Church. The reasons are all over the place - from personal tragedy or the church's views on sex, all the way up to the injustice of the doctrine of Hell and the perceived immorality of God himself.
Zuckerman does a good job of hiding his own beliefs and focusing his camera on his various apostates. During most of the interviews, he repeatedly points out that whatever incidents trigger one person's falling from faith will have no such effect on most others. Also, he makes it clear that separating yourself from a community of faith can be a sad and painful experience. Every one of his interviewees, however, claim that the benefits to nonbelief outweigh whatever they lost.
Also, and for this I'm grateful, Zuckerman punches a hole in the biggest lie that pastors, churches, and believers in general perpetrate about those who lead secular lives: that people without God lead unethical, morally repugnant lives. In fact, the opposite turns out to be true: atheists and agnostics tend to be more moral than church-goers and believers - except that it's an internalized morality based on reason and compassion, and not on a system of legalized commandments handed down from some self-appointed authority.
And look, here I am climbing on my soapbox. I guess it's obvious where I fall on the issue of religious faith. I'll get down now, but I hope a lot of people read the book. Unfortunately, I doubt many believers will.
Zuckerman does a good job of hiding his own beliefs and focusing his camera on his various apostates. During most of the interviews, he repeatedly points out that whatever incidents trigger one person's falling from faith will have no such effect on most others. Also, he makes it clear that separating yourself from a community of faith can be a sad and painful experience. Every one of his interviewees, however, claim that the benefits to nonbelief outweigh whatever they lost.
Also, and for this I'm grateful, Zuckerman punches a hole in the biggest lie that pastors, churches, and believers in general perpetrate about those who lead secular lives: that people without God lead unethical, morally repugnant lives. In fact, the opposite turns out to be true: atheists and agnostics tend to be more moral than church-goers and believers - except that it's an internalized morality based on reason and compassion, and not on a system of legalized commandments handed down from some self-appointed authority.
And look, here I am climbing on my soapbox. I guess it's obvious where I fall on the issue of religious faith. I'll get down now, but I hope a lot of people read the book. Unfortunately, I doubt many believers will.
March 15, 2023
What a difference a decade makes. The world we are thrown into no longer presumes faith as a default position. There is a bigger story that led up to today than this book was able to tell when it was written slightly over 10 years ago. In the USA faith (believing in things unseen) is no longer the only expectation.
Growing up, the ultimate insult was ‘you have no faith’ or ‘you believe in nothing’ and refutation was impossible since everything around us was a given that faith was good and no-faith was bad and the ‘Judeo-Christian’ paradigm explained everything while conveniently forgetting Christians held pogroms against the Jews, and all the other schools of faith were irrelevant and if thought about at all were just some new-age California fad. Christianity and its superiority were the given and was what made up the background; the world was as if it was always one long Hallmark Christmas movie but always playing somewhere in the background, the certainty of the Bible was a given and the Moral Majority were certain that they were moral and a majority.
This book considered those who fell away from pretending to know things they could not possibly know and how they walked away from their faith presumptions, but only for those who had a sufficient reason. Their stories are worth telling and their reasons from walking away are explored.
The more interesting story seems to be happening today. Those who never thought religion made any sense in the first place. People like me who always got a little creeped out when somebody started talking to their imaginary friends, or just could not wrap their head around Noah’s Ark, or saw them using special pleading defending their faith and their supreme uniqueness argument for their holy book, or who could never find the Trinity in the Bible.
William James’ book on ‘The Varieties of Religious Experience’ irritated me since he explained each person’s experience from the perspective of the person’s delusions as they were living the delusion and still believing without reason and justifying with special pleading. This book takes the person the next step where they saw the myth for what it was and how they got to that realization. There are no universal stories, just particulars that at best lead to generalizations.
Today, the world is different from when this book was written. The secular is acceptable as a worldview. It started changing rapidly just as this book was being written. I think the better book today would be what the author spoke about the Danish and the irrelevance that the Danes as a whole feel towards religion and how that is describing the USA of today.
Growing up, the ultimate insult was ‘you have no faith’ or ‘you believe in nothing’ and refutation was impossible since everything around us was a given that faith was good and no-faith was bad and the ‘Judeo-Christian’ paradigm explained everything while conveniently forgetting Christians held pogroms against the Jews, and all the other schools of faith were irrelevant and if thought about at all were just some new-age California fad. Christianity and its superiority were the given and was what made up the background; the world was as if it was always one long Hallmark Christmas movie but always playing somewhere in the background, the certainty of the Bible was a given and the Moral Majority were certain that they were moral and a majority.
This book considered those who fell away from pretending to know things they could not possibly know and how they walked away from their faith presumptions, but only for those who had a sufficient reason. Their stories are worth telling and their reasons from walking away are explored.
The more interesting story seems to be happening today. Those who never thought religion made any sense in the first place. People like me who always got a little creeped out when somebody started talking to their imaginary friends, or just could not wrap their head around Noah’s Ark, or saw them using special pleading defending their faith and their supreme uniqueness argument for their holy book, or who could never find the Trinity in the Bible.
William James’ book on ‘The Varieties of Religious Experience’ irritated me since he explained each person’s experience from the perspective of the person’s delusions as they were living the delusion and still believing without reason and justifying with special pleading. This book takes the person the next step where they saw the myth for what it was and how they got to that realization. There are no universal stories, just particulars that at best lead to generalizations.
Today, the world is different from when this book was written. The secular is acceptable as a worldview. It started changing rapidly just as this book was being written. I think the better book today would be what the author spoke about the Danish and the irrelevance that the Danes as a whole feel towards religion and how that is describing the USA of today.
July 6, 2012
This book is important. I can think of so many apostate friends or friends who are potential apostates who need to have their experiences validated. Leaving an inherited faith and faith community is one of the most soul wrenching things a human can do. That shit is hard. People who’ve never done it, just don’t really understand. The honesty of the folks in this book is admirable. I agree with Zuckerman, the people who make the leap are “courageous, bright, keenly moral, freethinkers, and life-lovers.” They’re not confused amoral souls a leap away from hell. It would also behoove believers to read this book and learn about their ex-pats.
January 1, 2012
Faith No More: Why People Reject Religion by Phil Zuckerman
"Faith No More" is a social study of why people have rejected religion. Social scientist Phil Zuckerman conducts a series of in-depth interviews from apostates of all walks of life and makes some interesting predictions. The book is composed of the following ten chapters: 1. Mother Was an Exorcist, 2. Stopped Making Sense, 3. Misfortune, 4. To Be Mormon, or Not to Be, 5. Sex and Secularity, 6. Others, 7. Jail, Food Stamps, and Atheism, 8. The Apostate Worldview, 9. All in the Family?, and 10. How and Why People Reject Religion.
Positives:
1. As accessible a book as you will ever read.
2. Fascinating social study that focuses on why people reject their religion.
3. Thought-provoking questions.
4. Mr. Zuckerman treats his topics with utmost care and respect.
5. An interesting look at the impact religion has on people. Good stuff!
6. The differences between men and women regarding religion.
7. Factors that contribute to the loss of religious beliefs.
8. Interesting interviews and surprising responses.
9. A look at various religious beliefs.
10. The impact of religious beliefs and sexuality...interesting insight.
11. Find out which academic discipline has the highest rate of atheism and why.
12. Find out what factors contribute most to our beliefs.
13. Are atheists more immoral than theists?
14. Interviewees provide wisdom, "When I was a Christian, I remember being motivated by what I thought God wanted...now, I feel like I am good because I've made the decision to be good."
15. The section of "Morality After Religion" is by far the most intellectually rewarding part of this entire book. Kudos.
16. A consensus on what is the worst thing about their loss of faith...
17. The impact of parenting and religious beliefs.
18. The correlation between education and religious beliefs.
19. The author keeps things in perspective. Never attempts to make absolute claims.
20. What religion provides to the masses.
21. Links worked!
Negatives:
1. The book lacked scientific depth. As an example, I want to know what science has to say about homosexuality or at least some references.
2. 87 formal interviews even when well distributed doesn't seem to be an in-depth study but I might be wrong...
3. Not as much wisdom or insight as I was hoping for. Being an atheist myself I am familiar with many of the reasons why one has lost interest in religion but I was expecting more.
4. I don't agree with the notion that "belief in God isn't easy". It seems to me that people believe in "gods" way too easily and find the opposite to be true. Being an atheist in a predominately religious society is in fact tougher.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It's a page turner of a book and it covers fascinating topics in an accessible manner. I expect mainly atheists and agnostics to read this book but I really believe it would benefit theists most. In other words, everyone should read this book ...I recommend it.
Further suggestions: the excellent "Society Without God" by the same author, "Why I Became an Atheist" and "The Christian Delusion" by John Loftus, "Sense and Goodness Without God " and "Why I'm Not a Christian" by Richard Carrier, "Man Made God" by Barbara G. Walker, ""The Invention of the Jewish People" by Shlomo Sand, "The Portable Atheist" by Christopher Hitchens, "Godless" by Dan Barker, "Christian No More" by Jeffrey Mark, and "The Invention of God" by Bill Lauritzen
"Faith No More" is a social study of why people have rejected religion. Social scientist Phil Zuckerman conducts a series of in-depth interviews from apostates of all walks of life and makes some interesting predictions. The book is composed of the following ten chapters: 1. Mother Was an Exorcist, 2. Stopped Making Sense, 3. Misfortune, 4. To Be Mormon, or Not to Be, 5. Sex and Secularity, 6. Others, 7. Jail, Food Stamps, and Atheism, 8. The Apostate Worldview, 9. All in the Family?, and 10. How and Why People Reject Religion.
Positives:
1. As accessible a book as you will ever read.
2. Fascinating social study that focuses on why people reject their religion.
3. Thought-provoking questions.
4. Mr. Zuckerman treats his topics with utmost care and respect.
5. An interesting look at the impact religion has on people. Good stuff!
6. The differences between men and women regarding religion.
7. Factors that contribute to the loss of religious beliefs.
8. Interesting interviews and surprising responses.
9. A look at various religious beliefs.
10. The impact of religious beliefs and sexuality...interesting insight.
11. Find out which academic discipline has the highest rate of atheism and why.
12. Find out what factors contribute most to our beliefs.
13. Are atheists more immoral than theists?
14. Interviewees provide wisdom, "When I was a Christian, I remember being motivated by what I thought God wanted...now, I feel like I am good because I've made the decision to be good."
15. The section of "Morality After Religion" is by far the most intellectually rewarding part of this entire book. Kudos.
16. A consensus on what is the worst thing about their loss of faith...
17. The impact of parenting and religious beliefs.
18. The correlation between education and religious beliefs.
19. The author keeps things in perspective. Never attempts to make absolute claims.
20. What religion provides to the masses.
21. Links worked!
Negatives:
1. The book lacked scientific depth. As an example, I want to know what science has to say about homosexuality or at least some references.
2. 87 formal interviews even when well distributed doesn't seem to be an in-depth study but I might be wrong...
3. Not as much wisdom or insight as I was hoping for. Being an atheist myself I am familiar with many of the reasons why one has lost interest in religion but I was expecting more.
4. I don't agree with the notion that "belief in God isn't easy". It seems to me that people believe in "gods" way too easily and find the opposite to be true. Being an atheist in a predominately religious society is in fact tougher.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It's a page turner of a book and it covers fascinating topics in an accessible manner. I expect mainly atheists and agnostics to read this book but I really believe it would benefit theists most. In other words, everyone should read this book ...I recommend it.
Further suggestions: the excellent "Society Without God" by the same author, "Why I Became an Atheist" and "The Christian Delusion" by John Loftus, "Sense and Goodness Without God " and "Why I'm Not a Christian" by Richard Carrier, "Man Made God" by Barbara G. Walker, ""The Invention of the Jewish People" by Shlomo Sand, "The Portable Atheist" by Christopher Hitchens, "Godless" by Dan Barker, "Christian No More" by Jeffrey Mark, and "The Invention of God" by Bill Lauritzen
December 1, 2014
People reject their religions for many reasons in what is oftentimes a gradual process without an "aha!" moment. Apostasy creeps up on people through personal misfortune, intellectual shifts (people explain: "it just stopped making sense"), moral aversions ("I just couldn't believe that if other people weren't my denomination, God would send them to hell"), and incompatibility between religious teachings and a core aspect of a person's being - for instance, being attracted to people of the same sex. Rarely do people reject religion through one and only one reason. Author Zuckerman describes that apostasy is often an act of courage as those who acknowledge their disbelief publicly may be met with social ostracism, judgment, and even complete rejection by family or friends in some strict sects.
Zuckerman threads sociological studies with personal interviews with apostates to explore the whys and hows of apostasy. A really interesting read to discuss apostasy in a thoughtful and logical manner.
Zuckerman threads sociological studies with personal interviews with apostates to explore the whys and hows of apostasy. A really interesting read to discuss apostasy in a thoughtful and logical manner.
March 2, 2014
In Faith No More: Why People Reject Religion, Mr. Zuckerman attempts to explore the reasons why individuals in America are increasingly moving away from affiliating themselves as religious. One of the greatest accomplishments of this book, in my opinion, is that this is a qualitative research study to try to better understand the why of the quantitative research numbers. As has been said by others, there are several issues with the sampling and conclusions which can be drawn from this study. For example, the number of overall participants in the study is but a small percentage of the overall growth of those who do are moving away from religion in the United States. Of the 87 interviews which where used for this book, the author conducted 49 of the interviews himself while the others were done by research assistants; while it is understandable why this is done (i.e. time) it made me wonder how the author took into account any bias that was brought to the interview by the interviewer. Finally, the author recognizes that the sample collected for these interviews was based on convenience and therefore nonrandom which again could create some level of bias and inconsistent results when trying to apply the conclusions to a wider population.
Regardless, the book does provide some decent information regarding the decision to leave a specific religion. As the author himself states, to conclude that there is one specific reason why people choose to remove themselves from their religion would be foolish; it is often a combination of many things which leads an individual to make this decision. As a Christian, I think that this book points out two distinct things which often push people away from religion. The first is the legalism that is often associated with Christianity. Many times Christianity comes across as a bunch of rules and regulations which then represent such a restrictive lifestyle that many people then crave for the independence from these rules. The author points this out by bringing to light the fact that there are some examples of many people who live better moral lives once they left their religion or felt more free without religion. The second point which I took from this book is related to the first and it is that there is never discussion as to the "why" of certain things. For example, the sex talk. Many religions teach that you should not have sex before marriage and it is told to children and teens as they grow up that they shouldn't have sex before marriage and that is the extent of the discussion. Therefore when teens/young adults have the natural feelings and desires of physical companionship they often don't know how to deal with it other than to feel guilty to have these natural desires. In this sense, the book provides some good talking points which should be more often discussed, it is a shame, though, that most believers I know would not even touch this book because they don't want anything which would challenge or question what they believe.
I am glad I read the book, it is an easy read, but because of my questions regarding the research study methods I could not give it a better rating.
Regardless, the book does provide some decent information regarding the decision to leave a specific religion. As the author himself states, to conclude that there is one specific reason why people choose to remove themselves from their religion would be foolish; it is often a combination of many things which leads an individual to make this decision. As a Christian, I think that this book points out two distinct things which often push people away from religion. The first is the legalism that is often associated with Christianity. Many times Christianity comes across as a bunch of rules and regulations which then represent such a restrictive lifestyle that many people then crave for the independence from these rules. The author points this out by bringing to light the fact that there are some examples of many people who live better moral lives once they left their religion or felt more free without religion. The second point which I took from this book is related to the first and it is that there is never discussion as to the "why" of certain things. For example, the sex talk. Many religions teach that you should not have sex before marriage and it is told to children and teens as they grow up that they shouldn't have sex before marriage and that is the extent of the discussion. Therefore when teens/young adults have the natural feelings and desires of physical companionship they often don't know how to deal with it other than to feel guilty to have these natural desires. In this sense, the book provides some good talking points which should be more often discussed, it is a shame, though, that most believers I know would not even touch this book because they don't want anything which would challenge or question what they believe.
I am glad I read the book, it is an easy read, but because of my questions regarding the research study methods I could not give it a better rating.
March 15, 2015
I really liked this book. I wish I could recommend this to all my religious friends so maybe they would understand me better. I loved the stats on how non religious people are perceived, the morals of non religious people, and the subjective summary of non religious people. However, I don't think religious people are all that interested in learning about non religious people. It's too bad...this book might open their eyes.
December 20, 2014
Wow!!! Another fascinating book by Phil Zuckerman exploring the reasons why some people lose their faith here in the United States.
February 25, 2012
It's funny how intuitive this is, that the book really doesn't do much more than offer validation for ideas and concepts that most of us already know. But that's what is so important about these kind of books, the narratives and stories that confirm. The last two chapters prior to the conclusion were the most valuable aside from the validating aspects of the book.
January 2, 2015
A summary of 87 interviews with folks who have escaped from faith as a way of thinking. Zuckerman provides direct quotations and stats to show the various reasons people give, and then explains why a reason is not a generalizable 'causation.' Pretty good all the way around. Don't read it unless you wouldn't mind finding out that many of your doubts are not unique...
May 29, 2022
Zuckerman's book provides a sociological perspective on secularism and "apostasy" in easy to understand language. Religion, while very much a part of America, has steadily and slowly been losing its grip on people--and I say this as someone who lives in the Bible Belt of the US, where churches are pretty full on Sundays.
The reasons for rejecting religion are many and varied, as evidenced by the 87 people Zuckerman interviewed for this book. Some are put off by televangelists and their wealth, while others live in poverty; some are unable to satisfy their spiritual hunger and their questions about the nature of God go unanswered (see also Amos 8:11).
Whether you're religious or not, it's still an interesting read.
The reasons for rejecting religion are many and varied, as evidenced by the 87 people Zuckerman interviewed for this book. Some are put off by televangelists and their wealth, while others live in poverty; some are unable to satisfy their spiritual hunger and their questions about the nature of God go unanswered (see also Amos 8:11).
Whether you're religious or not, it's still an interesting read.
January 13, 2013
I read this book because it was required for my Sociology class but I absolutely loved it.
It was so eyeopening and just excellent. Seeing how individuals from all different religions can have very similar questions about religion made me see religion as the social institution it is, which was incredibly interesting.
It was so eyeopening and just excellent. Seeing how individuals from all different religions can have very similar questions about religion made me see religion as the social institution it is, which was incredibly interesting.
January 3, 2019
An interesting attempt to examine why people leave their religion. By interviewing about 90 individuals from various religions the author has compiled the reasons people left their religion often after conflicts between reason and faith, history and present time, etc. The study was done between 2008 and 2010.
August 25, 2022
Having been raised Catholic and now finding my own faith and spirituality in paganism, this was a really fascinating and illuminating read. I'd strongly recommend it to anyone who feels strongly about their own spiritual journey and is interested in the perspectives of those who have found themselves outside of their upbringing
August 18, 2016
Really interesting book about why people lose their faith in religions they once belonged to. I could relate to a lot of the stories in this book. Made me feel good that other people have walked the road of "apostasy" before me, and gone on to live happy lives.
September 7, 2021
Interesting stories. This book is affirming for those who have deconstructed, helpful for those who are doubting, and likely enlightening to those who believe that atheists are demonic, or are at minimum immoral sinners that intentionally reject and mock god.
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December 7, 2022"According to a 2008 study, so many Americans claim no religion (15%, up from 8% in 1990) that this category now outranks every other religious group except Catholics and Baptists."
but, with your help, we can get that number to 100%. and that's why i'm running for governor of,
but, with your help, we can get that number to 100%. and that's why i'm running for governor of,
August 5, 2012
Very good easy reader on how more and more moral and educated believers (not like me who have never had religion)in America turn away from God. Many strong assertions with evidence to follow.
June 6, 2013
Wow. I now know what I really am; I am an apostate.
Let the record show that Mr. Melbie has declared himself an apostate.
Let the record show that Mr. Melbie has declared himself an apostate.
June 25, 2014
It was a very interesting study as to why people abandon religion without being judgemental.
May 6, 2020
I read this book several years ago, but it's taken me awhile to write up a review of it, posted to my blogspot:
Why do people fall "out of love" with their faith? Well, lots of reasons. One of the best books I've read about the phenomenon is sociologist Gary Zuckerman's book, Faith No More: Why People Reject Religion. In this book, Zuckerman finds 9 main reasons why people walk away from their faith:
1. Parents: "when only one parent is religious and the other one is lukewarm or an outright nonbeliever, the likelihood of apostasy for the children of such a couple is increased" (page 153)
2. Education: "Many of the men and women I talked to found that going to college made them look at the world diff erently, forced them to ask questions that they had never wanted or even thought to ask, and caused them to scrutinize their own values and beliefs" (page 154)
3. Misfortune: "For some people, when they experience loss or pain in their lives, it leads them to question God’s goodness, even God’s existence" (pages 154-155)
4. Other Cultures, Other Religions: "For some people, it is moving to a new country and being exposed to new ways of life that makes them question their beliefs. For others, it is experiencing or becoming acquainted. with other religions. For still others, it is simply taking a class in which they learn about other religions, other cultures. But the underlying dynamic is always the same: experiencing, witnessing, or learning about other people who do things diff erently, believe diff erent things, and/or hold diff erent outlooks on life can stir up a process of critical self-refl ection that can be potentially corrosive to one’s long-held religious convictions" (page 156)
5. Friends, Colleagues, Lovers: "If it isn’t our parents that aff ect and infl uence us, then it is other people who are closest to us" (page 156)
6. Politics: "Many religious people who support gay marriage, oppose the war in Iraq, support protecting the environment, fear the likes of Sarah Palin, or simply identify as vegetarians are apt to feel some confl ict with what they are hearing at church or around their family’s dinner table" (page 159)
7. Sex: "There were basically three key ways in which issues of sex and sexuality were contributing factors in many people’s rejection of religion:
[(a)] The first had to do with desire. Some people, as they hit their teenage years or early twenties, found themselves wanting to have sex. But this desire was flatly condemned by their religion....
[(b)] A second way in which sex can contribute toward apostasy has to do with guilt. Many religions spend a lot of time and energy making their adherents feel shame and guilt about sexual urges and desires. Sex becomes heavily associated with sin, uncleanliness, and moral depravity....This emotional linkage of healthy sexual desire/experience. with guilt/shame can leave a bitter taste in some people’s mouths. They came to resent what they had been taught, and the way it made them feel. Some distanced themselves from religion....
[(c)] Finally, there is the matter of homosexuality. There is simply no question that being gay or lesbian can strongly contribute toward someone’s apostasy. Gays and lesbians learn early on that their sexual identity is unwelcome, unacceptable, and downright unholy. So many leave—and they go on to embrace secular values and secular worldviews that confi rm and celebrate who they are, rather than deny and deride" (pages 159-161)
8. Satan and Hell: "Many of the people I interviewed, particularly those who had been raised in conservative Protestant denominations or strongly Catholic households, had been taught to fear Satan and hell. And they did. And this fear remained an ugly, damaging, disturbing element of their lives for many years. As they got older, they began to resent it, hate it, and eventually question it" (page 162)
9. Hypocrisy/Malfeasance of Religious Associates: "Most religious people, at one time or another, come into contact with unsavory people who should not, given their outward religiosity and ostensibly piety, be so unsavory. Perhaps it is one of their fellow congregants. Or maybe it is their priest, pastor, or minister. For many of the men and women whom I interviewed, their withdrawal from religion was spurred in large part by religious people that they knew, or knew of, who acted in such a way as to create feelings of unease, disappointment, or repugnance" (page 162)
It would be interesting to see more examples, and find out if this list is all-inclusive--or whether there are still other reasons that people give up on their faith.
Link to Blog
Why do people fall "out of love" with their faith? Well, lots of reasons. One of the best books I've read about the phenomenon is sociologist Gary Zuckerman's book, Faith No More: Why People Reject Religion. In this book, Zuckerman finds 9 main reasons why people walk away from their faith:
1. Parents: "when only one parent is religious and the other one is lukewarm or an outright nonbeliever, the likelihood of apostasy for the children of such a couple is increased" (page 153)
2. Education: "Many of the men and women I talked to found that going to college made them look at the world diff erently, forced them to ask questions that they had never wanted or even thought to ask, and caused them to scrutinize their own values and beliefs" (page 154)
3. Misfortune: "For some people, when they experience loss or pain in their lives, it leads them to question God’s goodness, even God’s existence" (pages 154-155)
4. Other Cultures, Other Religions: "For some people, it is moving to a new country and being exposed to new ways of life that makes them question their beliefs. For others, it is experiencing or becoming acquainted. with other religions. For still others, it is simply taking a class in which they learn about other religions, other cultures. But the underlying dynamic is always the same: experiencing, witnessing, or learning about other people who do things diff erently, believe diff erent things, and/or hold diff erent outlooks on life can stir up a process of critical self-refl ection that can be potentially corrosive to one’s long-held religious convictions" (page 156)
5. Friends, Colleagues, Lovers: "If it isn’t our parents that aff ect and infl uence us, then it is other people who are closest to us" (page 156)
6. Politics: "Many religious people who support gay marriage, oppose the war in Iraq, support protecting the environment, fear the likes of Sarah Palin, or simply identify as vegetarians are apt to feel some confl ict with what they are hearing at church or around their family’s dinner table" (page 159)
7. Sex: "There were basically three key ways in which issues of sex and sexuality were contributing factors in many people’s rejection of religion:
[(a)] The first had to do with desire. Some people, as they hit their teenage years or early twenties, found themselves wanting to have sex. But this desire was flatly condemned by their religion....
[(b)] A second way in which sex can contribute toward apostasy has to do with guilt. Many religions spend a lot of time and energy making their adherents feel shame and guilt about sexual urges and desires. Sex becomes heavily associated with sin, uncleanliness, and moral depravity....This emotional linkage of healthy sexual desire/experience. with guilt/shame can leave a bitter taste in some people’s mouths. They came to resent what they had been taught, and the way it made them feel. Some distanced themselves from religion....
[(c)] Finally, there is the matter of homosexuality. There is simply no question that being gay or lesbian can strongly contribute toward someone’s apostasy. Gays and lesbians learn early on that their sexual identity is unwelcome, unacceptable, and downright unholy. So many leave—and they go on to embrace secular values and secular worldviews that confi rm and celebrate who they are, rather than deny and deride" (pages 159-161)
8. Satan and Hell: "Many of the people I interviewed, particularly those who had been raised in conservative Protestant denominations or strongly Catholic households, had been taught to fear Satan and hell. And they did. And this fear remained an ugly, damaging, disturbing element of their lives for many years. As they got older, they began to resent it, hate it, and eventually question it" (page 162)
9. Hypocrisy/Malfeasance of Religious Associates: "Most religious people, at one time or another, come into contact with unsavory people who should not, given their outward religiosity and ostensibly piety, be so unsavory. Perhaps it is one of their fellow congregants. Or maybe it is their priest, pastor, or minister. For many of the men and women whom I interviewed, their withdrawal from religion was spurred in large part by religious people that they knew, or knew of, who acted in such a way as to create feelings of unease, disappointment, or repugnance" (page 162)
It would be interesting to see more examples, and find out if this list is all-inclusive--or whether there are still other reasons that people give up on their faith.
Link to Blog
October 15, 2023
The book helped me understand my own process of secularization and atheism. I identified with some of those interviewed by Phil Zuckermann.
The author gives us a deep explanation of the reasons behind the 87 people he interviewed (from different sects and religions, economic and regional backgrounds). We have the most varied reasons, from sexual liberation, use of logical reasoning, condemnation of explicit violence dictated by these religions, the absurdity and hypocrisy of their stories in their religious books.
It is the second book by the author that I read, the first was "Society Without God", where Zuckermann talks about his experiences in Denmark and Sweden, two of the most secular countries in the world, and what these societies have to teach the world.
At the moment I finish this book, the country I live in is in the middle of a bitter war where each side, led by their own religious leaders, imbued with nationalism and dreams of annihilating the enemy and conquering their lands are causing a terrible suffering to each other.
They can´t just understand that their gods are absent? They can´t understand their own suffering? Understand the suffering of the others? No, they can´t. The religion doesn´t permit them to understand that.
I can't imagine any solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if both sides don't just stop and "see the light" like the 87 people in Zuckermann's book, and that Israelis and Palestinians are killing each other because fanatical religious leaders just teach this, death and destruction.
"Violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children: organized religion ought to have a great deal on its conscience." Christopher Hitchens
The author gives us a deep explanation of the reasons behind the 87 people he interviewed (from different sects and religions, economic and regional backgrounds). We have the most varied reasons, from sexual liberation, use of logical reasoning, condemnation of explicit violence dictated by these religions, the absurdity and hypocrisy of their stories in their religious books.
It is the second book by the author that I read, the first was "Society Without God", where Zuckermann talks about his experiences in Denmark and Sweden, two of the most secular countries in the world, and what these societies have to teach the world.
At the moment I finish this book, the country I live in is in the middle of a bitter war where each side, led by their own religious leaders, imbued with nationalism and dreams of annihilating the enemy and conquering their lands are causing a terrible suffering to each other.
They can´t just understand that their gods are absent? They can´t understand their own suffering? Understand the suffering of the others? No, they can´t. The religion doesn´t permit them to understand that.
I can't imagine any solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if both sides don't just stop and "see the light" like the 87 people in Zuckermann's book, and that Israelis and Palestinians are killing each other because fanatical religious leaders just teach this, death and destruction.
"Violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children: organized religion ought to have a great deal on its conscience." Christopher Hitchens
August 20, 2019
Faith No More is a short, readable study consisting of interviews with people who were raised in a certain religion and left that religion as adults, usually dropping other religious beliefs as well.
While the interviews were interesting, I was a little disappointed by the lack of any surprises. Most of the apostasy (author's preferred term) occurred in the wake of a significant and negative event that called faith into question. It is open (as the author points out) what would have happened if these believers had a better personal experience in their faith. In specific cases, the faith itself was incompatible to happiness (typically beliefs concerning sexuality), but in other instances, the event was specific such as hardship unanswered by prayer, or discovery of malfeasance by church officials.
I would be more interested in reading about neutral, "intellectual apostasy." How many people decide that they could live a happy life in their religion, but choose not to simply because they have concluded the beliefs are unsupported by evidence? He does give one such example, but I'd like to see more.
Zuckerman's study supports the view that when a religion is combined with a socially controlling structure, it harms people and drives them away (or potentially leads to worse fates such as suicide). That is unsurprising, I think, though obviously it's good to collect evidence. I think the study would have been improved by finding more cases in religions that are not as personally controlling.
Finally, the religions covered were predominantly Christian and exclusively Abrahamic. While this understandable from a mostly American sample, it would be interesting to read about apostasy in other faiths.
While the interviews were interesting, I was a little disappointed by the lack of any surprises. Most of the apostasy (author's preferred term) occurred in the wake of a significant and negative event that called faith into question. It is open (as the author points out) what would have happened if these believers had a better personal experience in their faith. In specific cases, the faith itself was incompatible to happiness (typically beliefs concerning sexuality), but in other instances, the event was specific such as hardship unanswered by prayer, or discovery of malfeasance by church officials.
I would be more interested in reading about neutral, "intellectual apostasy." How many people decide that they could live a happy life in their religion, but choose not to simply because they have concluded the beliefs are unsupported by evidence? He does give one such example, but I'd like to see more.
Zuckerman's study supports the view that when a religion is combined with a socially controlling structure, it harms people and drives them away (or potentially leads to worse fates such as suicide). That is unsurprising, I think, though obviously it's good to collect evidence. I think the study would have been improved by finding more cases in religions that are not as personally controlling.
Finally, the religions covered were predominantly Christian and exclusively Abrahamic. While this understandable from a mostly American sample, it would be interesting to read about apostasy in other faiths.
May 14, 2023
Some horrid accounts of abuse detailed in the book that confirm how insidious organized religions can be, beyond dogma and transcending humanity. The book's central theme is to explain the gripping transition from religion to treason and finally reason in America, and in doing so, captures the stories of households affected by apostasy from not just Christianity, but all of the Abrahamic triumvirate.
An essential read not just for atheists, but also those switching between religions, in particularly between the same religion but different denominations often with incompatible values or historical clashings.
An essential read not just for atheists, but also those switching between religions, in particularly between the same religion but different denominations often with incompatible values or historical clashings.
August 6, 2024
Cuckoo for Caca - 🎶
' It's cold and it's
Smooth and it's
A hard shade of white
And everybody needs to lick the surface clean...'
' It's cold and it's
Smooth and it's
A hard shade of white
And everybody needs to lick the surface clean...'
August 14, 2025
thanks to this book I wrote my coursework — 100/100
January 28, 2025
I found it interesting. The author interviewed a number of people and a number were interviewed by research associates. The interviewees were asked why they ceased to be religious. A wide variety of reasons were given. Most interviewees were ex-Christian, while a small number were ex-Jew or ex-Moslem.
March 15, 2016
Zuckerman's treatment of the causes of apostasy doesn't quite find the answer. The book centers on anecdotes from 87 in-depth interviews Zuckerman & his team conducted with those who have left their religion. From these we read common-sense insights, with the occasional gem.
Zuckerman opens by citing research showing the increase of irreligion in America, largely from those born into religious households. I found his introductory materials interesting, where he cites two classifications for apostasy before offering his own:
Mauss' classifications: Intellectual, social, psychological. These address the causes of departure.
Brinkerhoff & Burke's classifications: ritualists, outsiders, true apostates. These address the depth of departure.
Zuckerman's typology is less concerned with causes, addressing timing, depth, and impact:
When: Early/Late. Early apostasy is tied with the process of maturation and forming social identity inherent in the childhood/adulthood transition. Late apostasy happens after the adult has already freely and maturely embraced religion.
Depth: Shallow/Deep. Shallow apostates reject their religion but still consider themselves spiritual and don't identify as atheists. Deep apostates break from religion absolutely.
Intensity: Mild/Transformative. Mild apostasy characterizes a drift from religion with little social, psychological, or personal impact. Transformative apostasy describes those who were deeply religious and their apostasy amounts to a life-altering transformation with massive psychological reorientation, loss of close friendships, alienation from a strong community, even familial rejection.
He then offers 9 circumstances that increase likelihood of apostasy. He illustrates each with stories from the interviews. I won't repeat them here, because you can guess them fairly easily. The interviews were compassionate, insightful, and interesting. I don't regret reading the excerpts or his discussion, but would have liked to see more analysis or digging underneath the stories via psychological assessments to identify similar ways of thinking.
Also, the role of one's social network is under-explored. Many people become disillusioned with their religion but continue observance to satisfy their culture, family, friends, network. Those who break away have had to deal specifically with the threat to social ties - and factors not related to apostasy may weaken or strengthen those ties, possibly taking apostasy off the table. An exploration of this dynamic would be interesting.
The book concludes by offering an idea for further research, that apostasy may be inherent to personality type, that people may not become apostate so much as awaken to their secular predisposition. I suspect that people who chose apostasy when exposed to circumstances that cause them to re-evaluate the their religion are those who:
* Prefer clarity to ambiguity
* Place high value on transparency
* Obtain significant self-worth from being honest
* Embrace a rational/material explanation of the unknown
Again, I'd like to see research into personality/cognitive traits as correlated to apostasy.
Having left the religious ministry after a 16 year career, I recognize elements of my journey in these stories. But I feel there are several avenues of quantitative research that would strengthen this qualitative exercise. Four stars.
Zuckerman opens by citing research showing the increase of irreligion in America, largely from those born into religious households. I found his introductory materials interesting, where he cites two classifications for apostasy before offering his own:
Mauss' classifications: Intellectual, social, psychological. These address the causes of departure.
Brinkerhoff & Burke's classifications: ritualists, outsiders, true apostates. These address the depth of departure.
Zuckerman's typology is less concerned with causes, addressing timing, depth, and impact:
When: Early/Late. Early apostasy is tied with the process of maturation and forming social identity inherent in the childhood/adulthood transition. Late apostasy happens after the adult has already freely and maturely embraced religion.
Depth: Shallow/Deep. Shallow apostates reject their religion but still consider themselves spiritual and don't identify as atheists. Deep apostates break from religion absolutely.
Intensity: Mild/Transformative. Mild apostasy characterizes a drift from religion with little social, psychological, or personal impact. Transformative apostasy describes those who were deeply religious and their apostasy amounts to a life-altering transformation with massive psychological reorientation, loss of close friendships, alienation from a strong community, even familial rejection.
He then offers 9 circumstances that increase likelihood of apostasy. He illustrates each with stories from the interviews. I won't repeat them here, because you can guess them fairly easily. The interviews were compassionate, insightful, and interesting. I don't regret reading the excerpts or his discussion, but would have liked to see more analysis or digging underneath the stories via psychological assessments to identify similar ways of thinking.
Also, the role of one's social network is under-explored. Many people become disillusioned with their religion but continue observance to satisfy their culture, family, friends, network. Those who break away have had to deal specifically with the threat to social ties - and factors not related to apostasy may weaken or strengthen those ties, possibly taking apostasy off the table. An exploration of this dynamic would be interesting.
The book concludes by offering an idea for further research, that apostasy may be inherent to personality type, that people may not become apostate so much as awaken to their secular predisposition. I suspect that people who chose apostasy when exposed to circumstances that cause them to re-evaluate the their religion are those who:
* Prefer clarity to ambiguity
* Place high value on transparency
* Obtain significant self-worth from being honest
* Embrace a rational/material explanation of the unknown
Again, I'd like to see research into personality/cognitive traits as correlated to apostasy.
Having left the religious ministry after a 16 year career, I recognize elements of my journey in these stories. But I feel there are several avenues of quantitative research that would strengthen this qualitative exercise. Four stars.
April 7, 2012
Zuckerman does in depth interviews with 89 apostates from Christianity, Judaism and Islam who now identify themselves as at least nonreligious if not atheist. Much of the short book is taken up by stories these subjects told about themselves, the reasons they left their faiths and how life is as a nonreligious person. So at the start are glaring methodological issues. Asking people to look back on the reasons they made some life altering decision, such as deconversion is a terrible way to find out what factors actually go into that sort of process, as studies on conversion actually show. People rationalize their choices on retrospect. Someone in the process of conversion often reports that he or she is simply having fun, making new friends and isn't interested in converting; it is after the fact that they emphasize how they began to think it was true all along. Not surprisingly in these cases the majority of people Zuckerman mentions talk about reasons that they reflected extensively on as the impetus for apostasy. He does briefly mention this as a possible problem but apparently that doesn't stop him from writing the book in this fashion. It's hard to know what we are supposed to learn from these interviews at all. Similarly with the question about how life is now, it's well known that people after making an investment are going to overemphasize the good parts of it to others, regardless of how it actually performs for them. He is being careless or naive to suggest that we are going to learn much this way.
What really did it for me though was certain factual inaccuracies which were reported in what seemed to be a dismissive fashion. His portrait of CS Lewis as a wealthy British man sipping tea and declaring unbelievers to be immoral is not only a deep misunderstanding about Lewis' actual argument from morality (which are that believers and unbelievers alike presuppose certain moral rules that must proceed from God in some fashion, no he did not say unbelievers have to be jerks- actually that when they play the moral game they are implicitly using rules that suggest God's existence, and no I don't actually buy the argument) but he doesn't seem to be aware that Lewis spent years as an unbeliever himself! Not to mention some bizarre misunderstandings about Mormonism, which was particularly irritating since he seemed to revel in bringing up some of the odder theological claims of the religion. An obvious example is his claim that all adult Mormons must wear 'temple garments' at all times unless absolutely necessary. Mormons who have been endowed, who are a minority of adult Mormons, do wear these garments, but take them off when showering, having sex, or even working out. This is just one example of his collapsing religious traditions that his subjects left into caricatures to make his job easier.
What really did it for me though was certain factual inaccuracies which were reported in what seemed to be a dismissive fashion. His portrait of CS Lewis as a wealthy British man sipping tea and declaring unbelievers to be immoral is not only a deep misunderstanding about Lewis' actual argument from morality (which are that believers and unbelievers alike presuppose certain moral rules that must proceed from God in some fashion, no he did not say unbelievers have to be jerks- actually that when they play the moral game they are implicitly using rules that suggest God's existence, and no I don't actually buy the argument) but he doesn't seem to be aware that Lewis spent years as an unbeliever himself! Not to mention some bizarre misunderstandings about Mormonism, which was particularly irritating since he seemed to revel in bringing up some of the odder theological claims of the religion. An obvious example is his claim that all adult Mormons must wear 'temple garments' at all times unless absolutely necessary. Mormons who have been endowed, who are a minority of adult Mormons, do wear these garments, but take them off when showering, having sex, or even working out. This is just one example of his collapsing religious traditions that his subjects left into caricatures to make his job easier.
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