Introduction

This chapter offers a short introduction to the concept of nonreligion as a term that denotes people who distance themselves from certain religious traditions and ways of life, or from religion itself, prominent examples of which include atheists, freethinkers, humanists, or secular people. The chapter highlights nonreligion as a social position characterized by tensions between distinctions from and a relatedness to religion. It contends that such tensions are also evident in the academic study of religion, and echo in the competing notions of the concept “secularity.” It then explains the relational approach to nonreligion used to analyze such tensions. The introduction concludes with an overview of the different chapters of this book, including its first conceptual chapter, three subsequent case studies that focus on nonreligious organizations in Sweden, the Philippines, and the Netherlands, and a concluding comparative chapter.