An October Pew Forum report, “‘Nones’ on the Rise: One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation,” explores the views of the growing number of Americans who are agnostic, atheist, or without any particular religious affiliation (though they may have some spiritual or religious convictions). The “nones” don’t know that much about organized religion and are either not very sympathetic to organized religion or are actively opposed. They are an increasingly important part of the electorate, and an increasingly important part of the Democratic Party’s base.

The “nones” are, in the careful words of the report, “not uniformly hostile toward religious institutions.” In fact, a majority of them “clearly think that religion can be a force for good in society,” because religious organizations “bring people together and help strengthen community bonds” and “play an important role in helping the poor and needy.”

Will the “nones” help defend the religious freedom of these organizations they say they value, protecting them against government rules that press them to follow uniform secular norms rather than the counter-cultural values of their respective religious faiths? The Pew Forum report does not specifically examine this critical issue. But its findings give no reason to be overly hopeful.

Protecting religious freedom as government grows, commitment to religion wanes, and the culture becomes more secular requires strong action–engagement with politics, concern with the details of laws and regulations, and pushing–not for unilateral advantage but pushing nevertheless for our nation to continue to honor the First Freedom.

Yet the Pew Forum report says that the “nones” “are much more likely than the public overall to say that churches and other religious organizations are too concerned with money and power, too focused on rules, and too involved in politics.”