"……the unaffiliated are simply not unified. They have few advocacy groups or high-profile faces. They don’t congregate, organize or petition like members of organized religions. Politicians don’t feel the need to court them, let alone identify as one of them. Part of the problem is that the unaffiliated are a jumbled lot. Only about a fourth are atheists or agnostics. Many of the others feel strongly connected to religion, but choose not to participate. It’s like a protest vote. Whether they are organized, cohesive or disgruntled, the unaffiliated are the fastest-growing religious category in America. Nonaffiliation is not un-American. Increasingly, it is America. Eventually, our politics will have to catch up."