RE: Being atheist in the Bible Belt
January 13, 2017 at 4:51 am
(This post was last modified: January 13, 2017 at 4:52 am by The Grand Nudger.)
The religious economy model doesn't suggest that it has anything to do with more people joining, or more religious people. It calls into question the notion that people are leaving religion...even if they are leaving a specific provider. What you've just described dovetails nicely with the model. In the situation presented two (or more) providers compete for an insufficient customer base, naturally, they both go out of business quicker. Where the economy model advises caution is in assuming that anther two or more providers wont crop up, compete for the same insufficient market, and ultimately fail themselves, repeat ad infinitum. These people may very well affiliate as nones (the affiliations of their providers are not the affiliations of the consumers). So long as more churches open up, it's a safe assumption that there is some market for their services. In their model, self affiliation -and- new providers would have to decline simultaneously before it was indicative of people leaving religion in the general.
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