(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Christianity Is On The Decline in the U.S. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-12 People who make it their business to study the vital statistics of religious institutions and organizations are uniformly agreed that the Christian religious landscape in the United States continues to undergo profound changes, and not necessarily for the better. Studies done along the lines of demography and sociology have drawn attention to the decline in church membership and participation in religious services. Fewer people are identifying with a Christian tradition, and many no longer participate in religious activities of any sort. Additionally, a rising number of people report that they simply no longer subscribe to the tenets of Christianity. These trends raise questions about the future of religious identity in America and its implications for social, cultural, and, one might add, political life; they are reshaping the religious, social, and political fabric of the nation, prompting scholars and observers to reassess the role of Christianity in an increasingly pluralistic society. Many religious and social science research organizations have been studying this phenomenon for decades. Some are connected to research universities and others are stand-alone organizations. These institutes provide a variety of resources and studies, contributing significantly to the academic and public understanding of the role and influence of religion in the United States. Most recently, researchers at the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) published a study, Religious Change in America, noting that 67% of Americans continue to identify as Christian. However, when account is given to racial and ethnic groups, white Christians have slipped still further in 2023, from 46% of the population in 2013 to 42% in 2023, while Christians in the communities of color have remained steady between 24% and 25%. Thus, it appears that it is white Americans who are opting not to become, or to discontinue being, a participant in the Christian religious tradition. Ten years ago, one out of every five Americans did not identify with any religious tradition. Today, that number is slightly more than one out of every four. As a group, these non-identifiers, or “nones” as they are frequently labeled, are not at all homogeneous or monolithic. Their only common denominator is that they neither identify with nor participate in a religious tradition. This group, representing 26% of Americans, consists of both former religionists (65%) as well as those who identify as atheist (15%) or agnostic (19%). Why is that the case? Why are increasing numbers of Americans never taking up or ceasing participation in religion? Two out of every three respondents who have abandoned their religion say they left because they no longer believe in their religion’s teachings. Now, given the wide-ranging diversity among the traditions of Christianity, who can really know exactly what “I no longer believe in my religion’s teaching” can really mean? All forms or denominations of the Christian tradition have lost participants, but especially so among evangelical Protestant and Roman Catholic Christians (the only “religious group” that is growing is the “nones”). But there are extraordinary theological differences among all Christian groups, and any one group can be characterized by the fact that it does not subscribe to certain beliefs found in the other groups. Such differences may fall, for example, in explicitly doctrinal areas addressing such matters as the authority of scripture; God as triune; the humanity and divinity of Jesus; the nature, scope, and means of salvation; creation as beginnings and the eschaton as last things. There are also different beliefs regarding the nature and purpose of the church, its organization, structure, and polity; its role in civil society; and its relation to civil government. And there is great variety in the beliefs that touch upon the relationship between the truth claims of Christianity on the one hand, and modern cultures and the knowledge base established by the sciences on the other. It is known, however, that there are some teachings in the Christian religion that are decisively rejected by those who have left the fold. Religious beliefs that are ill-disposed and antagonistic regarding LGBTQ+ people and their treatment in society are given by five out of ten respondents as reasons for leaving their religion. Other reasons provided to explain departure from religion include the fact that one’s family just wasn’t all that religious to begin with (41%). This observation signals the rather precipitous decline of religious belief and practice across the generations; the strategies, means, and efforts for handing on and inculcating the tradition in homes, neighborhoods and communities are apparently somewhat inefficient. Then again, according the PRRI’s study, the clergy sexual abuse scandals (31%) and the tendency of some churches to focus on engagement in American politics (20%) weighed heavily in the minds of many who have left religion behind. But what is perhaps even more significant, slightly more than three out of ten respondents stated that their religious affiliation was bad for their mental health. To discern the significance of the withdrawal from religious belief and practice, it may be worthwhile to ruminate on the reasons why people actually do come to and continue to participate in a Christian religious tradition. According to the study, a solid majority of Americans who attend worship (90%) report they do so because it enables them to feel closer to God, and an almost equally robust number of Americans (79%) report that having this experience in a religious community with others is important to them. Moreover, the same proportion of Americans (79%) who attend religious services consider instilling religious values in their children as important as a reason for their participation, while a somewhat smaller portion (68%) give fulfilling a religious duty or obligation as the reason. Somewhat oddly, a similar percentage (68%) consider attendance at religious services to be a connection to family history. These high percentages are not insignificant as reasons for attending religious services, but they also do not bode well when we consider the decline in religious participation and the rise of the unaffiliated “nones.” Apparently, for rising numbers of people, there is simply an absence of these otherwise positive experiences in religious practices and institutions. For what purpose does one participate in religious services if doing so does not contribute to feeling closer to God, or engender a positive social experience by practicing with others? Why participate if one does not intend to inculcate religious belief and practice in one’s children, or view participation as an obligation, a religious duty? The underside of these reasons is that those who cease to believe and participate most decidedly did not have these experiences which otherwise appear to be so pervasive among a diminishing number of religious subscribers and practitioners. Granted, most Americans are religious, to one degree or another, but their number is growing smaller and the nature and extent of their participation is declining. In 2007, 84% of Americans claimed a religious identity and affiliation. Today, according to PRRI (and other research organizations), it stands at 67%. This decline in religious affiliation and participation has significant implications for the future of Christianity in America. In general, this trend is animated by shifts in society’s values and changes in our communities and family structures. There are also evolving attitudes towards social, economic and political institutions, and some of those attitudes are rather dark and foreboding. The dysfunction of our political and governmental system—particularly in a presidential election year—has had profound ripple effects throughout our society. Simultaneous with these impulses, we are witnessing obscurantism and anti-intellectualism in both religion and society, with some advancing duplicity and denial over integrity and truthfulness. To be sure, traditional religious congregations have played a vital role in building communities and social life in this country, and yet it is possible that the decline of religion may affect how communities are formed, with people seeking alternative forms of spirituality-in-community and religious experience outside traditional religious settings. Research in social identity going back decades has shown that religion provides a sense of identity and belonging, so one implication of religion’s decline will undoubtedly be an increasing rise of alternative forms of identity and community based more on existing and emergent forms of sociality. One could argue that the proliferation of social media, including platforms for neighborhood and other social interest groups, has accompanied the decline in religious participation. Back in the 1990s, enrollments in seminaries were breaking records, new seminaries were being established, and departments of religious studies in American colleges and universities were expanding. At present, the Association of Theological Schools reports that enrollments have declined in almost 60% of the seminaries, raising the question about the viability and means of providing trained leaders for now at-risk religious institutions and churches. While the involvement of religious communities in political activities has prompted former religionists to depart their practice, the changes in religious affiliation could very well lead to shifts in political alignments and priorities, especially on issues that have been closely tied to religious ethics and moral practices. Providing forums for those who identify as “spiritual but not religious” to explore and engage in ethical reflection could provide a basis for outreach and the formation of virtual communities. While some religious leaders and their communities have contributed to social and political polarization, these shifts could reform the ways in which moral issues and ethical understandings are debated and understood in the public sphere, leading to more pluralistic approaches to ethics and morality. How Christian institutions, churches, and religious communities respond to current trends of declining adherents and significance will certainly shape the future of the religion for coming generations. History has shown that the health of religious traditions rises and falls through numerous periods as the institutions pass through epochs of stability and instability, equilibrium and disequilibrium. What remains most unclear at this time and place is whether or when a rise in the personal and social value of Christian religious affiliation and practice will occur. Retreat to the Christian religious zenith of the 1950s is not a possibility; we are too far beyond that cultural, political, economic, and demographic context. Rather, if some mode of social and religious amelioration of Christianity is to be evident, it will occur as religious institutions and churches decamp their current forms, recast their structures and belief systems, and direct their attention and activity to planting and cultivating the seeds of interpersonal relationships and understanding, social and moral interdependence, and the commitment to establish the conditions and institutions necessary for all to thrive in a context that stimulates and advances the common good and well-being of all. Frankly, however, I am not optimistic. See the report published in 2022 by the Pew Research Center. 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