Stephen Sebastian Bullivant, Nonverts: the Making of Ex-Christian America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022. ISBN: 978019757447.
The book has nine chapters. Chapters alternate between looking at survey data and interpreting it and the case studies. The author's main data source is the biennial General Social Survey (GSS) out of the National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago. The author also uses some data from Pew Research, Gallup, and Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). The groups profiled are Mormons, Mainline Protestants, Evangelicals, or rather Exvangelicals, and Catholics, or rather "recovering" Catholics.
The book as a whole is pretty interesting. The most interesting parts are the interviews and personal stories. The analysis chapters are good, but you have to get through statistical terms, explanations, a whole bunch of caveats, and a bit of uncertainty.
At times it seems the author either wants to be charitable to the religions, even if they do not deserve it, or just does not want to commit. Still, he makes some good observations that are relevant to our time.
Keep in mind that much of his work started prior to the pandemic. The narrative does take us past the pandemic, but much of the data is either pre-pandemic or just as the pandemic hit.
I ordered this book for our library. I figured it would be useful for classes in religious studies, political science, and sociology. It may also be of interest to our general studies classes. The book provides a picture of a part of American society that many either ignore or demonize. The author argues the number of nonverts is growing, and while they are no danger to Christian America yet, they will bring changes down the road. In the end, I do not think he went far enough in his conclusion, but I leave that for readers to consider.
I liked the book. It does offer some good insights, and it is worth reading if you are interested in the topic. If you are a nonvert or just non-religious in the United States, this book may be of interest too.
3 out of 5 stars.
Additional reading notes:
Growth of the nones:
"Nones account for roughly one in four American adults, or about 59 million people. And as you might already suspect, they are far more diverse than popular stereotypes might have you believe. Furthermore, barring some Great Millennial Revival, this proportion is set to grow and grow for the foreseeable future" (7).
Nones are not one size fits all:
"Put another way, the vast majority of nones do not fit easily into the popular one-size-fits-all image of a rationalist and materialist Atheist-with-a-capital-A. Not only are the majority of nones not atheists at all-- a consistent finding going back to at least the 1960s-- but even many of those who actually are atheists are not that kind of atheist. Not believing in God, gods, or even a kindly 'Something' does not itself preclude believing in all kinds of other supernatural, spiritual, and/or professional phenomena" (69).
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