The emergence of nonbelievers is no passing fad.

Published on January 16, 2013 by David Niose in Our Humanity, Naturally   Fads come and go in America, whether we’re talking about consumer products, hairstyles, or social-political ideas, so it’s reasonable to wonder whether the secular movement might be just another trendy fashion. If we’re considering what’s hot and what’s not in popular culture, clearly the notion of personal secularity is in the former category, with demographic trends breaking in favor of nonbelievers and the nonreligious. But will it last?

For several reasons, it’s hard to see the modern secular movement as a passing phase that will be gone tomorrow. The movement may level off, and even experience ebbs and flows over time, but the emergence of seculars resulting from the modern secular movement is highly unlikely to reverse itself, and the impact of that emergence is likely to be lasting and profound. Here are five factors indicating that the contemporary trend of secularity should have long-term traction:

To read the rest of this Psychology Today article by AHA Past President David Niose, click here.