Nathalie Charles, even in her mid-teens, felt unwelcome in her Baptist congregation, with its conservative views on immigration, gender and sexuality. So she left.

B次元官网网址淚 just donB次元官网网址檛 feel like that gelled with my view of what God is and what God can be,B次元官网网址� said Charles, an 18-year-old of Haitian descent who identifies as queer and is now a freshman at Princeton University.

B次元官网网址淚t wasnB次元官网网址檛 a very loving or nurturing environment for someoneB次元官网网址檚 faith.B次元官网网址�

After leaving her New Jersey church three years ago, she identified as atheist, then agnostic, before embracing a spiritual but not religious life. In her dorm, she blends rituals at an altar, chanting Buddhist, Taoist and Hindu mantras and paying homage to her ancestors as she meditates and prays.

The path taken by Charles places her among the religiously unaffiliated B次元官网网址� the fastest-growing group in surveys asking Americans about their religious identity. They describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or B次元官网网址渘othing in particular.B次元官网网址�

According to a survey released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, this group B次元官网网址� commonly known as the B次元官网网址渘onesB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� now constitutes 29% of American adults. ThatB次元官网网址檚 up from 23% in 2016 and 19% in 2011.

B次元官网网址淚f the unaffiliated were a religion, theyB次元官网网址檇 be the largest religious group in the United States,B次元官网网址� said Elizabeth Drescher, an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University who wrote a about the spiritual lives of the nones.

The religiously unaffiliated were once concentrated in urban, coastal areas, but now live across the U.S., representing a diversity of ages, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds, Drescher said.

Even in their personal philosophies, AmericaB次元官网网址檚 nones vary widely, according to a recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. For example, 30% say they feel some connection to God or a higher power, and 19% say religion has some importance to them even though they have no religious affiliation.

About 12% describe themselves as religious and spiritual and 28% as spiritual but not religious. More than half describe themselves as neither.

Nearly 60% of the nones say religion was at least somewhat important to their families when they were growing up, according to the AP-NORC poll. It found that 30% of nones meditate and 26% pray privately at least a few times a month, while smaller numbers consult periodically with a religious or spiritual leader.

B次元官网网址淭here are people who do actually practice, either in a particular faith tradition that we would recognize, or in multiple faith traditions,B次元官网网址� Drescher said. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e not interested in either membership in those communities formally or in identifying as someone from that religion.B次元官网网址�

Over recent years, the prevalence of the nones in the U.S. has been roughly comparable to Western Europe B次元官网网址� but overall, Americans remain more religious, with higher rates of daily prayer and belief in God as described in the Bible. According to a 2018 Pew survey, about two-thirds of U.S. Christians prayed daily, compared to 6% in Britain and 9% in Germany

The growth of the nones in the U.S. has come largely at the expense of the Protestant population in the U.S., according to the new . It said 40% of U.S. adults are Protestants now, down from 50% a decade ago.

Among the former Protestants is Shianda Simmons, 36, of Lakeland, Florida, who began identifying as an atheist in 2013.

She grew up as a Baptist and attended church regularly; she says she left mainly because of the churchB次元官网网址檚 unequal treatment of women.

Not everyone in her family knows she has forsaken religion, and some who do know struggle to accept it, Simmons said.

B次元官网网址淭here are certain people I canB次元官网网址檛 tell that I am atheist,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚t has made me draw away from my family.B次元官网网址�

Similarly, at the beauty store she owns, she feels she must keep her atheism B次元官网网址渦nder wrapsB次元官网网址� from clients, for fear theyB次元官网网址檇 go elsewhere.

Like Simmons, Mandisa Thomas is a Black atheist B次元官网网址� an identity that can be challenging in the many African American communities where churches are a powerful force. Thomas sang in a church choir in her childhood, but was not raised Christian.

B次元官网网址淲ithin the Black community, we face ostracism,B次元官网网址� said Thomas, who lives near Atlanta and founded , a support group, in 2011. B次元官网网址淭here is this idea that somehow you are rejecting your blackness when you reject religion, that atheism is something that white people do.B次元官网网址�

Another advocate for the nones is Kevin Bolling, who grew up in a military family and served as a Roman Catholic altar boy. In college, he began to question the churchB次元官网网址檚 role, and grew dismayed about its position on sexuality after he came out as gay.

HeB次元官网网址檚 now executive director of the , which has more than 200 branches in colleges and schools nationwide. The chapters, he said, serve as havens for secular students or those questioning their faith.

B次元官网网址淚 think this generation can be the first generation to be majority non-religious versus majority religious,B次元官网网址� he said.

Being Catholic also was a big part of Ashley TaylorB次元官网网址檚 upbringing B次元官网网址� she became an altar server at 9. Now 30, she identifies as religiously unaffiliated.

B次元官网网址淚t just means finding meaning and maybe even spirituality without practicing a religion B次元官网网址�. pulling from whatever makes sense to me or whatever fits with my values,B次元官网网址� she said.

Her faith gave her strength when she had cancer at 11, she said, but she also feels that growing up Catholic negatively affected her emotional and sexual development and delayed her coming out as queer.

Eventually, Taylor discovered , which provided her with a congregation-like community but in a secular way, offering activities such as singing, book clubs and trivia nights. SheB次元官网网址檚 now board president at Sunday Assembly Pittsburgh.

B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e not trying to tell you whatB次元官网网址檚 true,B次元官网网址� said Taylor. B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 always a spirit of curiosity and questioning and openness.B次元官网网址�

For some nones, such as 70-year-old Zayne Marston of Shelburne, Massachusetts, their spiritual journey keeps evolving over decades.

Growing up near Boston, Marston attended a Congregational church with his family B次元官网网址� he remembers Bible study, church-sponsored dances, the itchiness of his flannel trousers while attending Sunday services.

Through high school and college, he B次元官网网址渄rifted awayB次元官网网址� from Christian beliefs and in his 30s began a serious, long-lasting journey into spirituality while in rehab to curb his alcoholism.

B次元官网网址淪pirituality is a soul-based journey into the heart, surrendering oneB次元官网网址檚 ego will to a higher will.B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e looking for our own answers, beyond the programming we received growing up.B次元官网网址�

His path has been rough at times B次元官网网址� the death of his wife from a fast-moving cancer, financial troubles leading to the loss of his house B次元官网网址� but he says his spiritual practice has replaced his anxieties with a B次元官网网址済entle joyB次元官网网址� and a desire to help others.

He previously worked as a landscape designer and real estate appraiser, and now runs a school teaching qigong, a practice that evolved from China combining slow, relaxed movement with breathing exercises and meditation.

B次元官网网址淎s a kid, I used to think of God up on a throne, with a white beard, passing judgment, but that has totally changed,B次元官网网址� Marston said. B次元官网网址淢y higher power is the universeB次元官网网址� ItB次元官网网址檚 always there for me, if I can get out of my egoB次元官网网址檚 way.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擫uis Andres Henao, Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu And David Crary, The Associated Press