New Books in Sociology Anna Strhan and Rachael Shillitoe, "Growing Up Godless: Non-Religious Childhoods in Contemporary England" (Princeton UP, 2025)
Sep 10, 2025
Anna Strhan, a Reader in Sociology at the University of York, and Rachael Shillitoe, a senior social scientist, dive into the fascinating landscape of non-religious childhoods in England. They discuss how children today form their identities and values without traditional religious frameworks. The conversation explores the dynamics between parents and kids regarding beliefs, the impact of education on non-religious views, and how these shifts affect children's moral development. They also touch on future research directions in understanding secular identities.
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Non-Religion As A Distinct Social Formation
- Non-religion should be studied as its own formation, not merely as absence of religion.
- Strhan and Shillitoe designed ethnography to understand rising childhood non-religiosity in Britain.
Clear Definitions For Non-Religion And Non-Belief
- The authors use Lois Lee's relational definition: non-religion is defined by its relation to religion.
- Non-belief means lacking belief in traditionally religious phenomena, not lacking all beliefs.
Kids Choose Science But Play With Fantasy
- Children in the study often said they did not believe in God and instead invoked science like the Big Bang or evolution.
- Many still enjoyed playful supernatural beliefs (ghosts, unicorns) and valued caring for people and animals.
