The great falling away

In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade.Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009.[1]

That is a significant loss, 12%. Notice they are not going to the atheists. Although they are going to be unaffiliated which includes atheists. The religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009.But of those categories only atheist means no belief in God. The actual atheists have risen to 4%, That;s iniscrule. Only a couple more points than American communists.

Atheists have held steady at 2%. Those who abandon organized religion are not abandoning belief in God per say. That Is good news, but the church needs to take seriously the fact that it is becoming non dominant in the culture. Why is this happening? A major reason is the religious right.

In a 2002 article, sociologists Michael Hout and Claude S Fischer argued that a significant trend in American religion – the skyrocketing number of people disaffiliation from religion – could be partly explained as a political backlash against the religious right. In the two decades since this article was published, a wealth of additional evidence has emerged to support its general argument.[2] Sociologists Joseph O Baker and Buster G Smith summarize the sentiment driving this backlash: “If that’s what it means to be religious, then I’m not religious.”[3]

The great Christian consensus of the past made seminaries and charities possible. It was comforting but it was not real Christianity but socialization. It made real christianity possible but at the exprense of great hyocracy thorgh social oppression. We need to worl toward real spirituality which means keeping Jesus teachings, loving our enemies as well as freeing the oppressed.


Notes


[1]PEW RESEARCH CENTER."In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace,"(OCTOBER 17, 2019)https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/ (Acessed Jan 6, 2023).

[2]Michael Hout and Claude S. Fischer,"Why More Americans Have No Religious Preference: Politics and Generations," American Sociological Review, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Apr., 2002), pp. 165-190 (Acessed Jan 6, 2023).

[3]Ruth Braunstein"The backlash against rightwing evangelicals is reshaping American politics and faith" The Guarduan (Tue 25 Jan 2022)https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/25/the-backlash-against-rightwing-evangelicals-is-reshaping-american-politics-and-faith (Acessed Jan 6, 2023).