Is a sea change on the horizon?

[Angrboda]

The statistics are clear: a cultural shift away from religion is underway in the USA

From time to time, we see surveys from the USA that suggest an increasing tide of non-affiliation to religion, especially among the young. Taken in isolation, it’s really hard to know what to make of them.

Maybe, for example, what we are seeing reflects religious apathy among the young. Maybe it’s simply that people believe just as strongly as ever – they just don’t identify with any particular religion.

Or maybe it reflects a fundamental shift in underlying cultural values.

In a massive new analysis looking at survey data from over 11 million young Americans, Jean Twenge (San Diego State University) and colleagues have teased out a clearer picture than ever of what is going on.

[Angrboda]

America is finally losing its religion – and that’s a good thing!

Since 2007, the religious ‘nones’ (those who describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”) have leapt in number by over 50% – an extra 19 million nonreligious Americans in 7 years. They now comprise some 23% of the population.

The Pew Survey is not alone. It comes on the back of a raft of similar surveys in recent years – even back in 2009, it was clear that there had been an upturn in the numbers of non-believers in the USA (although based on surveys far smaller than the Pew Survey). Earlier this year, an analysis of data from the ‘Monitoring the Future’ program showed how non-belief has risen dramatically among 8th, 10th and 12th graders.

Many of the non-religious in the Pew Survey are not diehard nonbelievers. You might think that, with a little effort, religious organisations could bring these folks back into the fold. But in fact this ‘fuzzy middle‘ is quite typical for the USA and is even larger in non-religious countries like the UK. What happens when a country loses religion is not that everyone become an atheist, but rather that most people, especially the less educated, simply stop caring.

[Alexmahone]

Jor, you do realize these articles are from 2015? I don't like stale news!

[LadyForCamus]

Fake news! 😝

[Minimalist]

But good news.  Religion has fucked up the world and damn near ruined this country.  The sooner it dies out the better.

[brewer]

But, but, (wait for it)........................

...........look at the Asians and Africans. It doesn't matter that they are in the bottom half of the Human Development Index. Christianity is killin it.