None of the Above

Compares secular attitudes characterizing “religious nones” in the United States and Canada

Almost a quarter of American and Canadian adults are nonreligious, while teens and young adults are even less likely to identify religiously. None of the Above explores the growing phenomenon of “religious nones” in North America. Who are the religious nones? Why, and where, is this population growing?

While there has been increased attention on secularism in both Europe and the United States, little work to date has focused on Canada. Joel Thiessen and Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme turn to survey and interview data to explore how a nonreligious identity impacts a variety of aspects of daily life in the US and Canada in sometimes similar and sometimes different ways, offering insights to illuminate societal and political trends. With numbers of nonreligious people even higher in Canada than in the US, some believe that secular currents to the north foreshadow what will happen in the US.

None of the Above asserts that a growing divide between religious and nonreligious populations could engender a greater distance in moral and political values and behaviors. At once provocative and insightful, this book tackles questions of coexistence, religious tolerance, and spirituality, as American and Canadian society accelerate toward a more secular future.

Joel Thiessen is Professor of Sociology at Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is the author of None of the Above: Nonreligious Identity in the US and Canada (NYU Press, 2020), The Meaning of Sunday: The Practice of Belief in a Secular Age (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2015), and co-author of The Millennial Mosaic: How Pluralism and Choice are Shaping Canadian Youth and the Future of Canada (Dundurn Press, 2019).Wilkins-Laflamme Sarah :

Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

Joel Thiessen is Professor of Sociology at Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is the author of The Meaning of Sunday: The Practice of Belief in a Secular Age and co-author of The Millennial Mosaic: How Pluralism and Choice are Shaping Canadian Youth and the Future of Canada.

Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

This book is an engaging read and important contribution to our understanding of nonreligious identity ... None of the Above is clearly written and should be appealing to scholars, graduate students, and undergraduates alike. It is especially well-suited to courses on the sociology of religion but could also enrich courses on social change, identity, and/or politics.

None of the Above will be of most interest to scholars working on issues related to secularization of the United States and Canada. Given its clearly explained methodology, useful appendices, and extensive up-to-date bibliography, it would also be a good book for graduate seminars on the sociology of religion.

David Voas, University College London:
A unique and especially welcome addition to the field. The empirical foundations of this work mark it out as superior to other books in this area. An excellent treatment of an important topic.

Joseph O. Baker, author of American Secularism: Cultural Contours of Nonreligious Belief Systems:
Greatly advances our knowledge about nonreligion in North America. Thiessen and Wilkins-Laflamme add a much-needed comparative perspective, provide the most in-depth analysis of nonreligion in Canada available, and expertly use mixed methods to narrate in rich detail both the long-term trends in nonreligion and the lived experiences of secular individuals. . . . Essential reading for understanding important changes to religion and society in both the U.S. and Canada.

Chad Seales, The University of Texas at Austin:
Clearly written and highly accessible, this book will make a significant contribution to the sociological study of religious nones in North America.