by Frank L. Pasquale, Research associate of ISSSC engaged in the study of the nonreligious population of the U.S
In survey research, “seculars” has been a variable category encompassing distinguishable types of individuals. There is an everincreasing amount of data emerging from survey work on “seculars” and Nones (those who profess no explicit religious identity or affliation). There has been less direct or detailed attention to the subset of Nones that might be characterized as “quintessential seculars”—the substantially or affrmatively nontranscendental/ notreligious, or “Nots.”