Understanding the ‘nones'
Some details from the 2018 British Social Attitudes survey on religion in the U.K. placed 'nones' as 52 percent of the British population, those who identify as Christian at 38 percent and as members of non-Christian faiths at 10 percent. The 2021 Official U.K. Census (compiled during the Covid-19 pandemic) was more nuanced, but shows the sharp decline in religious identity from the first decade to the second decade of the 21st century: While Christians dropped by nearly 10 million and other faiths increased slightly, those who identified as 'no religion' grew more than 8 million over 10 years.
This also shows a significant change in affiliation being merely a cultural marker, among younger people particularly. More than a third (35 percent) of those over 75 self-identify with the Church of England, whereas only 1 percent of those ages 18-24 do so. In other words, the 'Church of England' — which used to be the default religious category for nonpracticing or none-identifiers — has been simply replaced with 'none.' Moreover, self-identification does not correlate with attendance. In the U.K., for example, less than 1 percent of the entire population worships in the network of Anglican parish churches.
The rise of 'nones,' then, is a strong cultural shift — though there are exceptions to the trend. For example, since the visit of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who is now president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Sister Patricia Holland to Pembroke College Chapel in 2018, attendance at worship where I serve in Oxford, England, has grown significantly.
It is helpful to know about 'nones': It reminds us always to find out where people are and start there. I admit that there is sadness for many of us in this: Rejecting religious affiliation can ignore streams of wisdom rooted in the Spirit. It also contributes to conformity to 'none-ness' ('Everyone else is a 'none,' then I must be').
Furthermore, cutting ourselves off from the religious core lays us open to the tyranny of eccentric opinion. For example, the manipulated imagery after the fires in Los Angeles showing devastation surrounding a pasted image of an untouched church or chapel. The faithful are not being offensive or disloyal to call out such practices as propagandist rather than missionary. Such populist, dishonest portrayals of our attitudes, words or works are cited as reasons why 'nones' don't want to belong to institutional religion.
Let's continue to connect lovingly with 'nones,' and listen hard, without any embarrassment about our convictions. For without the center holding, there is a lack of cohesion.
A commanding and profound challenge to reach across vested interests was issued by President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in October 2024, to collaborate and build trust with groups where there seems little common ground. It sounds simple, but we need to work together. No one group can do everything alone; we need dialogue, and to build trust by showing that our institutions can promote broader understanding. This means deeply engaging with 'nones.'
I have to admit that I very much look forward to people who identify as 'nones' asking what faith tradition they might join and how. I can offer practical guidance on the 'how' part, but I do not have the authority to steer anyone else's agency. Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ responded to one such soul who did seek understanding and counsel to grow. When only 14 years old, Joseph Smith Jr. asked which church to join among the competing denominations of his day. At the instruction of divine personages, he became a 'none.'
'I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong,' Smith wrote of his experience. The founding prophet of the church of which Presidents Holland and Oaks are leaders started as a 'none' for good reason — but he did not stay there. He demonstrated an honest and honorable tradition of not claiming affiliation without having a personal, committed testimony.
The 'none' phenomenon offers something honest and graceful to believers: helping differentiate cultural identity from the task of nurturing an enduring, authentic relationship with God in our 'none' brothers and sisters.
This story appears in the April 2025 issue of Deseret Magazine. Learn more about how to subscribe.
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And they grabbed my sister, and they pulled her aside, and took the needle, and they jabbed it into her arm. And they pulled me aside, and they were about to jab me. And then all of a sudden I heard glass breaking: And my sweet, loving mother had gone over to a wall, picked up a table of beakers and glasses, and was slamming them against the wall. And she was screaming: 'This is not right! This is not right! Y'all should not have kept us out there all day! This is not right!' And the doctor came running in and said, 'Call the police.' And two Black ministers came running over and said, 'Please, doctor. Please, sir. Please don't call the police. We're sorry. We're gonna get her out of here.' One of the ministers fell to his knees. Was, like, just begging: 'Please, please. Please give the other kids their shot.' And he persuaded them not to call the police, and to give the other Black kids their shots. And so I got my polio shot. They didn't arrest my mom, which I was happy about. But you can't have a memory like that without it creating a kind of injury. A consciousness of hurt. That's what I mean when I say I'm broken, right? That consciousness of hurt creates a kind of anxiety that requires a response. I just think a lot of us were taught that you just have to find a way to silently live with your brokenness, with this injury, with that memory. And I don't think that's the way forward. I'm looking for ways to not be silent. Stevenson believes in the promise of treating humans with dignity, as expressed by a law that should keep an intellectually disabled human from being executed. Stevenson believed in that promise all the way up to 50 minutes before the scheduled execution, when the Supreme Court denied his final appeal. Which is when he realized that he works with broken people in broken systems where promises are broken. From the June 2024 issue: The lynching that sent my family north Stevenson's mother believed in the promise that she and her children should be treated equally. That's why she screamed, 'This is not right! This is not right!' When that promise was broken, his mother indicted the system. The preacher believed in the promise, which is why he got down on his knees and begged the doctor not to call the police and to give the other kids their shot. He surely knew that this promise was not yet realized in 1960s Delaware, where this scene took place—but he would not have begged if he did not believe that the promise of fairness was in sight. 2025: Errantry and Hope It's around broken promises that we have a chance at restoring, changing, improving. But of course we need a deep belief in the promise to do that. I am particularly interested in what happens to language when a promise is broken. Sometimes the shards make something intoxicating. Such an assemblage of broken shards can be found Atopolis: for Édouard Glissant, an extraordinary 2014 painting by the late African American artist Jack Whitten, which is being exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art through August 2. Glissant, the Martinican poet and philosopher whose 'poetics of relation' I mentioned earlier, said: 'The thought of errantry is not apolitical nor is it inconsistent with the will to identity, which is, after all, nothing other than the search for a freedom within particular surroundings. One who is errant (who is no longer traveler, discoverer, or conqueror) strives to know the totality of the world yet already knows he will never accomplish this—and knows that is precisely where the threatened beauty of the world resides.' Whitten wrote the following about Atopolis: Elsewhere, Whitten wrote: 'Ever since white imperialist entrepreneurs forced us into slavery, Black identity has been linked to our not having a 'sense of place.' This 'sense of place' for us had to be created through hard work involving all of our faculties of being.' In America, that hard work has been done with courage by individuals who have, to some extent, found 'us' through: 1. Unique meetings of their 'me'-ness and their 'not me'–ness. (Sometimes there was bloodshed around that meeting.) 2. Recognizing when good intentions become bad intentions. 3. Practicing hospitality. 4. Manifesting grace. 5. Understanding that, as Senator Cory Booker once told me: 'Black folks have to resurrect hope every day.' Amazing Grace In 2015, I interviewed the late Congressman John Lewis, and then portrayed him in my play and film Notes From the Field. I been going back to Selma every year since 1965, to commemorate the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, that took place on March 7, 1965. But we usually stop in Birmingham for a day. And then we go to Montgomery for a day. And then we go to Selma. On one trip to Montgomery, we stopped at First Baptist Church, the church that was pastored by the Reverend Ralph Abernathy. It's the same church where I met Dr. Martin Luther King and the Reverend Abernathy, in the spring of 1958. A young police officer—the chief—came to the church to speak on behalf of the mayor, who was not available. The church was full. Black. White. Latino. Asian American. Members of Congress. Staffers. Family members, children, and grandchildren. 'What happened in Montgomery 52 years ago durin' the Freedom Rides was not right,' the chief said. 'The police department didn't show up. They allowed an angry mob to come and beat you,' and he said, 'Congressman? I'm sorry for what happened. I want to apologize. This is not the Montgomery that we want Montgomery to be. This is not the police department that I want to be the chief of. Before any officers are hired,' he said, 'they go through trainin'. They have to study the life of Rosa Parks. The life of Martin Luther King Jr. They have to visit the historic sites of the movement. They have to know what happened in Birmingham, and what happened in Montgomery, and what happened in Selma.' He said, 'I want you to forgive us.' He said, 'To show the respect that I have for you and for the movement, I want to take off my badge and give it to you.' And the church was so quiet. No one sayin' a word. And I stood up to accept the badge. And I started cryin'. And everybody in the church started cryin'. And I said, 'Officer. Chief. I cannot accept your badge. I'm not worthy to accept your badge. [ Long pause.] Don't you need it?' He said, 'Congressman Lewis, I can get another one. I want you to have my badge!' And I took it. And I will hold on to it forever. But he hugged me. I hugged him. I cried some more. And you had Democrats and Republicans in the church. Cryin '. And his young deputy assistant—a young African American—was sittin' down. He couldn't stand. He cried so much, like a baby, really. It was the first time that a police chief in any city where I visited, or where I got arrested or beaten durin' the '60s, ever apologized. It was a moment of grace. It was a moment of reconciliation. The chief was very young—he was not even born 52 years ago. So he was offerin' an apology and to be forgiven on behalf of his associates, his colleagues of the past … For the police chief to come and apologize, to ask to be forgiven—it felt so good, and at the same time so freein' and liberatin'. I felt like, you know, I'm not worthy. You know, I'm just one. I'm just one of the many people who were beaten. It is amazing grace. You know the line in there, 'Saved a wretch like me?' In a sense, it's saying that we all have fallen short! 'Cause we all just tryin' to just make it! We all searching! As Dr. King said, we were out to redeem the soul of America. But we first have to redeem ourselves. This message—this act of grace, of the badge—says to me, 'Hold on.' And, 'Never give up. Never give in. Never lose faith. Keep the faith.' Keep the faith, yes. But don't look away.
Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
Killer Whales Attack Boat Again
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Two French sailors were rescued off the coast of northern Spain after their boat was rammed by orcas. They were taken safely to shore by the Spanish coastguard after the killer whales attacked their boat's rudder around two miles from the town of Deba, near Bilbao, according to several local media reports. A pod of orcas made headlines in 2023 for their repeated attacks off the Strait of Gibraltar at Spain's southern tip. Why it Matters Rescuers have said orca attacks like this are uncommon in the Basque region, close to France, where they had never before been called to assist in such circumstances. This has sparked questions about whether this is a one-off or the start of more attacks. The recurrence of these encounters is raising questions about animal behavior, the risks for boaters, and the future of human—orca interactions in a rapidly changing sea environment. Newsweek has contacted the Spanish coastguard, via email, for comment. What To Know On July 21 two French sailors were rescued off the coast of Deba, in Spain's Basque Country after their 10-meter yacht lost steering following an encounter with two killer whales, said the sources, including Cadena SER. According to the Spanish maritime safety agency Salvamento Marítimo, the sailors issued a distress call when their rudder was broken, leaving them adrift, though they did not take on water. The rescue vessel Salvamar Orión towed them safely to the port of Getaria. Researchers and sailors have reported a pattern of orcas approaching from behind and targeting boat rudders. If the vessel is immobilized, the whales often lose interest. British wildlife conservation professor Volker Deecke warned British sailors to be cautious, especially in orca hotspots like the "orca alley" of the Strait of Gibraltar. "For some unknown reason, the killer whales have developed a penchant for breaking the rudders of sailboats and once they have achieved this, they leave the boat alone," he told The Telegraph. Orcas have been causing problems for years in the Strait of Gibraltar and around the Iberian coast, but these attacks have intensified and spread in recent years. Data shows the attacks peaking in 2022 and making headlines in 2023 but have been common since 2020. File photo of killer whales, taken off Rausu, Hokkaido, northern Japan, on June 13, 2025. File photo of killer whales, taken off Rausu, Hokkaido, northern Japan, on June 13, 2025. AP What People Are Saying Captain Dan Kriz, who has been ambushed at least twice by the same pod of orcas, previously told Newsweek: "There is not much one can do. They are very powerful and smart … First time, we could hear them communicating under the boat. This time, they were quiet, and it didn't take them that long to destroy both rudders. Looks like they knew exactly what they are doing. They didn't touch anything else." Biologist Alfredo López Fernandez, from the University of Aveiro in Portugal and a representative of the Grupo de Trabajo Orca Atlántica (Atlantic Orca Working Group), previously told LiveScience: "The orcas are doing this on purpose, of course, we don't know the origin or the motivation, but defensive behavior based on trauma, as the origin of all this, gains more strength for us every day." What Happens Next Spanish authorities continue to monitor incidents, issue advisories during peak activity periods from May to August, and advocate boaters' compliance with best-practice guidelines to avoid escalating confrontations. Scientists remain divided on the causes behind this pattern, proposing theories from learned behavior due to trauma, playful social learning, or even practice for hunting. Both researchers and conservationists continue to emphasize the importance of protecting the endangered orca subpopulation while safeguarding sailors. Increased surveillance, further study, and public education campaigns are anticipated as both communities seek sustainable coexistence.
