Decline of religion

[Mister Agenda]

In America, the churches are doing it to themselves, and the more reasonable people who leave, the more extreme the remnants become. Evaporative extremism.

[Fake Messiah]

Pew analysis shows ‘no clear evidence’ Christian revival in UK

Claims of a Christian revival among the UK’s young adults may be based on data from surveys whose methodology can’t guarantee accurate results — while two major UK studies show a downturn, rather than a resurgence, in faith, said Pew Research Center.

On Jan. 23, Pew published a short analysis on conflicting data among surveys assessing whether Britain’s young adults are embracing Christianity.

A flurry of opt-in surveys — where participants sign up to participate “often in response to website ads or email campaigns” — have touted an upswing in Christian belief, practice and identity among those in the 18-34 age range, wrote Conrad Hackett, associate director of research and senior demographer at Pew, in his analysis.

Sponsoring organizations for such surveys have included the UK charity Bible Society, which announced in April 2025 that “church attendance in England and Wales is on the rise,” with “the most dramatic increase seen among young people.”

Tearfund, another British-based Christian charity, said its 2024 opt-in survey showed a spike in young adult participation in online worship, with its 2025 survey indicating that a greater share of younger rather than older adults planned to attend Christmas services.

Opt-in surveys by the Church of England, polling firm YouGov, the Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer project and the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life have all found “high levels of religious activity among young adults in recent years,” Hackett wrote.

However, data from major surveys drawing on random population samples “show that Christian identity and practice are not increasing among young adults in Britain,” he noted.

Britain’s Labor Force Survey, which typically interviews more than 50,000 persons per quarter, has measured a continuing decline in Christian identity in the UK across age groups, with 44% of British adults identifying as Christian by the summer of 2025, down from 54% in early 2018, according to Pew.

Data from the annual British Social Attitudes survey, which polls a random sample of over 3,000 adults, also “shows no clear evidence of a Christian revival,” he said.

“Among all adult respondents, the share who identify as Christians and who go to church at least once a month was 12% in 2018 and 9% in 2024,” Hackett wrote.

The BSA poll found that the number of young adult Christian churchgoers “has not risen above pre-pandemic levels,” standing in 2024 at 6% for adults ages 18 to 34, down from 8% in 2018.

https://www.osvnews.com/pew-analysis-sho...val-in-uk/

[Paleophyte]

The YouGov poll was always problematic, but was latched onto by the religious community as evidence that they aren't a dying breed. The only polls that you really need to conduct can be seen in the pews every Sunday morning, and they haven't improved for the churches.

[AFTT47]

In America, the churches are doing it to themselves, and the more reasonable people who leave, the more extreme the remnants become. Evaporative extremism.

Evaporative Extremism . I love it! It's not a real term (as far as I know) but it ought to be! The concept is valid. As the more sane members of the group depart, the core becomes more and more extreme, thus accelerating the departures. Eventually, the core goes super-critical! The whole thing goes up like a supernova!

[The Grand Nudger]

Enclave extremism. Imagine a reasonable person who is socially conservative. I know, I know, it's difficult. It will be even more difficult if you release that reasonable social conservative into a group of other reasonable social conservatives. In fact they will all..and very quickly, seem less reasonable individually and as a whole. Very quickly as in within 15 minutes of casual conversation about hot buttons. Works the same way for social liberals.

15 minutes to begin showing effects. A whole generation of this......