The latest installment of the State of the Bible USA 2024 report, released by the American Bible Society, focuses on “Nones and Nominals.” The title of the seventh chapter of the report refers to the religiously unaffiliated and those who identify as a member of a religious group but do not attend religious services at least once a month.
The research compared the scores of the so-called “nones” on the Human Flourishing Index to the scores of the public at large. The Human Flourishing Index, created by Harvard University, measures an individual’s level of human flourishing on a scale of 0 to 10 based on their responses to questions about their happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, as well as close social relationships.
Overall, the “nones” have an average score of 6.5 on the Human Flourishing Index compared to the average score of 6.9 for all Americans. The difference between the level of flourishing for “nones” and the public as a whole is most pronounced in the “meaning and purpose” domain. “Nones” have an average score of 6.3 in this area compared to 7.0 for all Americans.
Across the Human Flourishing Index and its subcategories, “practicing Christians” score the highest, followed by “casuals,” “nominals” and “non-Christians.” Overall, “practicing Christians” have an average score of 7.6 on the Human Flourishing Index.