So. Bay Residents Joining Ranks of Non-religious Affiliation

SARATOGA, CA — It took leaving religion to help Paula Rochelle of Saratoga believe that an ethical culture awaited to do good in this world during challenging times.

The 74-year-old Saratoga resident has joined a growing percentage of people who declare themselves as “unaffiliated” with religion, matching the trend across the country, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. This is despite the majority — 63 percent — of those surveyed in the Golden State still identifying as Christian, with 9 percent of people saying they're not a part of the dominant religion.

Nonetheless, the report shows that 27 percent of Californians do not claim a religious affiliation, which dwarfs the number of atheists at 4 percent and 5 percent agnostics. Interestingly enough, 18 percent of those in the survey answered "nothing at all" as far as what to label themselves.

"I want to have an interest in people," Rochelle told Patch when explaining her turn from Mormonism to Humanism. "I'm spiritual, not religious."

Rochelle represents one in about 30 members of the Ethical Culture Society in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Rochelle, a self-described “raging granny,” founded the Silicon Valley society in 2006 when she struggled whether religion does the public good despite purporting to do so.

With the increasing demands and pressures placed on the Earth and its inhabitants — from poverty to climate change, she found it difficult to support an enterprise that places too much regard on "the supernatural" as Christians tout in their sermons.

"Life after death is a wonderful story. But I'm an evidence-based person," she said.

Rochelle said she's more interested in helping her fellow humankind in the here and now, instead of condemning those who have forged a different path to salvation.

"We're not a large movement, but we're influential," she said of the group's gatherings.

The efforts are not always exclusive to the non-religious group. Rochelle said she's been on outings where Ethical Culture has worked in collaboration with the Grace Baptist Church.

"We want to collaborate with them," she said.

There's strength in numbers.

Chris Cassell, who joined the society after being raised in the Unitarian Church and exploring Judaism and Humanism, said he's surprised the group has not "become more popular" even though it's growing in numbers.

"I see the need in ethical culture," the Saratoga resident said. "It's trying to fill the role of traditional religion."

The treasurer and board member said his eyes have been open since joining about four years ago. For example, Cassell has seen through the practices of others in the group the advantages of living a life of clear of expectations from others and instead in working in assistance for the deprived.

"We fill a need for community to help through life events," he said.

The American Ethical Union serves as an umbrella organization of over 23 Ethical Culture societies across the nation. Ethical Culture is a subset of Humanism and was founded in 1876 in New York City by Felix Adler. The non-religious spiritual group preaches social good and the unique worth and dignity of all people.

According to a new Gallup Poll, half of Americans are church members, down from 70 percent in 1999. Most of the decline is attributable to the increase among those who do not identify with a certain religion.

U.S. church membership was 70 percent or higher from 1937 through 1976, falling modestly to an average of 68% in the 1970s through the 1990s. The past 20 years have seen an acceleration in the drop-off, with a 20-percentage-point decline since 1999. More than half of that change has occurred since the start of the current decade.

The decline in church membership is consistent with larger societal trends in declining church attendance and an increasing proportion of Americans with no religious preference.

A theology expert admitted the new numbers are a little surprising but not shocking given the social and political climate.

Christian Jochim, a San Jose State University professor of Comparative Religious Studies, cited the boomerang effect from the rise in organized religion led by the religious right in the 1980s and 90s.

"After that, people were not happy with religion and politics," Jochim told Patch.

He also pointed to prevalence of pedophilia in the Catholic church as a turnoff to organized religion since Catholicism represents the largest.

The debate over an upfront exposure in secular humanism has taken front and center — with especially a younger set, mainly millennials who view themselves as spiritual, not religious, like Rochelle.