Explore every episode of the podcast Non+Religion Research Brief

This article explores how debates about ghosts became a key battleground in China’s early twentieth-century struggle over modernity. Using a large dataset of historical newspapers and periodicals, the authors analyze how intellectuals argued for and against the existence of ghosts during the Republican era. Reformers often treated ghost belief as superstition and used scientific, psychological, and rational explanations to explain why people believed in spirits. In doing so, they reframed the issue from a question about whether ghosts exist to a question about why people believe in them. The study shows how public debates about ghosts helped advance broader secular critiques of traditional religion and promote a modern, scientific worldview in China.

(Citation: Hong, Ze, and Yuqi Chen. 2026. “The Rhetoric of Disenchantment: Ghost Belief and Secular Critique in Early Twentieth-Century China.” Cognitive Science 50(1):e70158. doi:10.1111/cogs.70158.)

What do people who strongly value science think happens after we die? This article examines that question by analyzing open-ended responses from nearly 400 science-oriented Finns recruited through pro-science organizations. As expected, many respondents described death in secular terms—seeing consciousness as ending when the body stops functioning. But the story doesn’t end there. Even among highly science-oriented participants, many expressed forms of “continuity,” such as living on in memories, social contributions, offspring, or the natural cycles of the universe. The study suggests that even in highly secular contexts, people still search for ways to imagine some form of continuity beyond death.

(Citation: Haimila, Roosa, and Elisa Muraja. 2023. “A Sense of Continuity in Mortality? Exploring Science-Oriented Finns’ Views on Afterdeath.” OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying 88(1):38–65. doi:10.1177/00302228211038820.)

This article tackles a provocative question: do scholars’ own religious beliefs influence the conclusions they reach about secularization? The authors build a large dataset of researchers who study religious change and link survey data on their personal religiosity to the findings reported in their publications. The results show a clear pattern: more religious scholars are less likely to believe in the secularization thesis and less likely to report evidence for it in their research, while more secular scholars are more likely to support it. The study suggests that the long-running debate over secularization may reflect not just evidence about religion’s decline, but also the beliefs of the scholars studying it.

(Citation: Rainero, V., Stolz, J., & Luijkx, R. (2026). The Faith Factor. How Scholars’ Religiosity Biases Research Findings on Secularization. Sociological Science, 13, 154–177. https://doi.org/10.15195/v13.a7)

This article examines why Israeli Jewish atheists still circumcise their sons. Drawing on interviews with 30 self-identified atheists, the study finds that the decision is rarely about religious belief. Instead, parents frame circumcision as a cultural, social, and bodily marker of Jewish belonging. Many participants express emotional ambivalence—sometimes even regret—but still proceed because of social expectations, family pressure, medical rationalizations, or a desire to connect their children to Jewish identity and history. The findings suggest that religious traditions can persist even without faith, functioning as embodied cultural practices that signal membership, continuity, and shared peoplehood rather than theological commitment.

(Citation: Friedman, T. (2025). Embodying Tradition and Ascribing Meaning: Israeli Jewish Atheists Choosing to Circumcise Their Sons. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 64(4), 442–454. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12964)

This research article investigates whether declining religiosity in the United States leads to a decrease in charitable giving. By analyzing data from the 2023 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the authors compare the philanthropic habits of religious individuals against atheists, agnostics, and "nones." The findings indicate that while nonreligious people are significantly less likely to donate to religious organizations, they contribute to secular charities at rates similar to their religious counterparts. Once demographic factors like income, wealth, and education are controlled, religious affiliation becomes a negligible predictor of how much or how often someone gives to non-sectarian causes. The study concludes that the ongoing secularization of society does not pose a threat to the health of the secular nonprofit sector. Ultimately, the authors suggest that secular individuals are motivated by the same prosocial values as religious believers, ensuring that total generosity remains high even as church attendance falls. (Citation: Cragun, R. T., Rodriguez, A., Smith, J., & Speed, D. (2026). Religiosity is Declining BUT Giving is Increasing: Can the Nonreligious Really Be Less Generous? Secularism and Nonreligion, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.164)

This research article by Lucy Elizabeth Potter examines the intersection of apostasy and forced migration, focusing on the emotional journeys of individuals who leave religion in restrictive societies. Through interviews and policy analysis, the author highlights the psychological strain involved in renouncing a faith and the subsequent struggle to prove a non-religious identity during the UK’s asylum process. She argues that Refugee Status Determination procedures often lack the framework to recognize the internal, invisible nature of atheism, frequently leading to a "culture of disbelief." This creates significant barriers to protection for apostates, who must perform "emotional legibility" to satisfy bureaucratic requirements for credibility. Ultimately, the study advocates for a more empathetic, trauma-informed approach that acknowledges the unique challenges faced by non-religious refugees seeking safety. (Full Citation: Potter, L. E. (2026). Becoming Non-Religious: Exploring the Emotional Experiences of Apostasy and Refugee Status Determination. Secularism and Nonreligion, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/snr.232)