Rise of the Irreligious?

I have no grand insight into this issue, but I was intrigued by a chart Matthew Yglesias posted showing a steady rise of the "irreligious"-- his term, not the poll's-- in the past 50 years (a mere 3% in 1952; up to a whopping 17% in 2004). These are people who answered "other" or "none" when asked about their religious beliefs by pollsters.

I think that he is probably interpreting the results wrong. The "other", of course, would include Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and any other religion that isn't "Protestant", "Catholic", or "Jewish". I think the rise in the "other" #s in recent decades-- rather than "none"-- explain the rise in that overall number.

Despite how many I know in my bubble, I doubt 17% of Americans are atheists. And I think that a lot of the people who answered "none" may just be people who didn't think it was anyone's business but their own what they do or do not believe in terms of religion. And that's good enough for me.

As a lowly atheist, I am well aware how frightened most Americans are of the concept of no belief at all. A Gallup poll just this past Spring named different groups, asking people whether or not they'd ever vote for someone from that group as President. At the very bottom-- with 53% saying 'no, thanks'-- was atheists. That's the only answer to score over 50%, and comes in after someone in a third marriage (ie. Giuliani), someone over 72 years old (ie. McCain or Ron Paul), and even a homosexual (ie. ??).

So, rise of the irreligious? Maybe, but it's likely just wishful on my Yglesias' part.