The changing nature of America’s irreligious explained: (From Senior Director of Research and Evaluation, University of Southern California) The “nones” category is a fuzzy one with many maintaining some type of religious or spiritual beliefs and practice. However, the bottom line is that the data show consistently and clearly that over time, formal religious institutions are losing ground in American culture. There are at least two areas in which the increase in the number of religious nones may have a significant social impact in the coming years – volunteerism and politics.