Unaffiliated and Secular Worldviews
| Unaffiliated and Secular Worldviews | |
|---|---|
| Family | Unaffiliated / Secular |
| Origin region | Global |
| Founding period | Ancient to modern; modern secular identities expanded strongly in recent centuries |
| Estimated adherents | Over a billion people globally are often categorized as religiously unaffiliated, including atheists, agnostics, and people with no formal affiliation. |
Unaffiliated and Secular Worldviews is A category for people and movements outside formal religious affiliation, including atheism, agnosticism, humanism, secularism, and spiritual-but-not-religious identities.
Overview
Unaffiliated is a demographic category, not a single religion. It includes people with no religious identity, atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, skeptics, and people who practice spirituality without belonging to a formal tradition.
Key beliefs
- No single creed or institutional structure
- May include atheism, agnosticism, skepticism, humanism, or personal spirituality
- Often emphasizes individual conscience, evidence, ethics, or freedom from religious authority
- Some unaffiliated people still pray, meditate, or believe in spiritual realities
Practices
- Ethical reflection
- Community service
- Secular ceremonies
- Meditation or personal spirituality for some
- Humanist gatherings
- Public reason and education
Places of worship
- No required worship space
- Humanist centers
- Community halls
- Homes
- Online communities
Sacred texts
- No shared scripture
- Philosophical, scientific, ethical, or humanist writings may be important to some
Holidays and observances
- World Humanist Day
- Darwin Day in some communities
- Secular adaptations of cultural holidays
Branches and related traditions
- Atheism - Lack of belief in gods; may be philosophical, practical, or identity-based.
- Agnosticism - The view that divine reality is unknown, unknowable, or not currently established.
- Secular Humanism - A non-theistic ethical worldview emphasizing human dignity, reason, compassion, and responsibility.
- Spiritual but Not Religious - A broad identity for personal spirituality outside formal religious affiliation.