Watch more of our interview with religion scholar Diana Butler Bass, author of "Christianity After Religion," about the religious implications of the rise of the religiously unaffiliated.

Watch more of our interview with popular evangelical author and speaker Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic, who speaks candidly about her two-year-long battle with breast cancer.

At Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia, Muslim children sit in tents, pray, throw stones, and make seven circuits around a replica of the Ka'ba as part of a mock Hajj, the traditional pilgrimage to Mecca.

When we interviewed Joni Eareckson Tada in 2010, the popular evangelical author and speaker had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. Now, two years later, we speak with Tada, a quadriplegic, about her battle with the disease and how it has affected her marriage and her faith.

"Candidates do often benefit from talking about their personal faith, but once that becomes politicized it can create some real problems for them, so they tend to stick to other sets of issues,” says University of Akron professor John Green. Watch more of our interview with him about the political implications of the rising numbers of religiously unaffiliated voters.

He arrived in the Philippines in 1972, inspired by the Second Vatican Council to “get out of the rectory and into the streets” to fight human trafficking.

“In our data for 2012 we are finding that the religiously unaffiliated outnumber white mainline Protestants, white Catholics, and even black Protestants among Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters.” Watch more of our interview with Greg Smith on politics and the religiously unaffiliated.

How will the Democratic Party appeal to religious voters without alienating the rising numbers of religiously unaffiliated voters?

We continue our series on the rise of the religiously unaffiliated with a report from managing editor Kim Lawton on political implications. Watch clips of her interviews with young “nones” in Akron, Ohio about their views on religion and politics.

Greg Smith, senior researcher at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, explains the findings of a survey on the religiously unaffiliated in America. "The religiously unaffiliated population is not wholly secular. It is wrong to think of them as consisting entirely of non-believers, for example. We know that many, if not most of them say they do believe in God," he says.

“Many campaigns have run away from religion in the past, trying to say there’s a separation of religion and state, whereas in Minnesota we have embraced the idea that a person of faith can and should opposed the amendment,” says University of Minnesota Law School professor Dale Carpenter.

“Religion is important. Being spiritual is important. What’s not as important is to join and to go every week,” says Kellen McClure when asked about churches and their worship services. He is one of the fast-rising number of American who describe their religion as “nothing in particular” or “none of the above” when surveyed by opinion researchers.

Watch video excerpts of an October 9, 2012 panel discussion at the National Press Club hosted by Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly about the political implications of the rising number of “nones,” those who say they are not affiliated with any particular religion.

Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly partnered with the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life in a survey to delve more deeply into the theological, social and political views of religious unaffiliated Americans, who are often called “the nones.” Watch a preview of our upcoming three-part mini-series based on the results of the survey.

Rabbi James Michaels of the Hebrew Home of Great Washington, DC says Sukkot reminds Jews of the experience of wandering in the desert, open to the elements, and of simply “being alive.”

“We’re trying to convince fellow Muslims of the fact that the idea of free speech is a foundational part of the Quran itself,” says Haris Tarin, director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s Washington office.

The militarized island of Mindanao is the only area of the Philippines with a significant Muslim presence. It is also the place where international civilians are working with local civic groups to monitor a ceasefire and advance the peace process.

Managing editor Kim Lawton discusses what the latest polls say about which candidates religious voters are supporting in the close race between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney.

Many Vietnamese priests came to the US to escape war and persecution and to help struggling Catholic parishes in small rural communities that don't have enough priests.

Some pastors say their job is not to endorse political candidates. It is to make sure that their church members vote and "that they understand what's at stake," says Pastor Jeffery Daniel.