THE NUMBER of Brazilians with "no religion", especially those between 15 and 24 years of age, has drawn the attention of scholars. This essay points to the conjugation and close association among: a secularizing creed (prevalent among atheists and agnostics), the "spirit of the age" (prevalent among those who believe in God but reject religious institutions or alternate between religious establishments), and finally, the new syncretic religious modes (impelled Catholicism's dwindling hegemony and the globalization of the religious realm).