Religious Affiliation in USA Continues to Decline. WHY?

[Desert Snake]

"We heathens" refers to a group (non-believers) which includes me.
We don't have much in common other than disbelief though.
Btw, heathenism isn't invented.....it's discovered, & then labeled.

And the definition is?

 

[Revoltingest]

And the definition is?

There are multiple definitions of "heathen" in common use.
I'm using it here to label atheists & agnostics.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Religiosity in the United States is in the midst of what might be called ‘The Great Decline.’ Previous declines in religion pale in comparison.
Over the past fifteen years, the drop in religiosity has been twice as great as the decline of the 1960s and 1970s.
source​

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source​

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The analyses, published this month in the journal PlosOne (link is external), reveal a seismic generational shift in religious commitment. Twice as many high school seniors, and 3 times as many college students, described their religion as “none” in the 2010s (vs. the early 1980s). Even among 8th and 10th graders, who have only been surveyed since the early 1990s, 40% to 50% fewer now affiliate with a religion.
source
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As I said, WHY?

What are your ideas, suspicions, guesses?

It might be a stretch to some, but in some respects, many people are actually getting smarter and scrutinizing claims for themselves, instead of just taking someone else's words on the matter at it face value.

 

[Cephus]

It might be a stretch to some, but in some respects, many people are actually getting smarter and scrutinizing claims for themselves, instead of just taking someone else's words on the matter at it face value.

And that is a net positive. The more educated people are becoming, the more that science explains that once only religion had any "answers" for, the more ridiculous the whole thing looks and the more people decide that they've had enough. No one should just blindly take someone else's claims at face value, they ought to check it out for themselves, which unfortunately few people ever do, because they're more concerned about comforting lies than the are in potentially uncomfortable truths.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

And the definition is?

"Heathen" carries the same meaning as "infidel" and "pagan". Generally, it's anyone who isn't a member of an Abrahamic religion. More specifically, it's an adherent of pre-Christian Germanic religion and the term is being reclaimed as such by them.

 

[Desert Snake]

"Heathen" carries the same meaning as "infidel" and "pagan". Generally, it's anyone who isn't a member of an Abrahamic religion. More specifically, it's an adherent of pre-Christian Germanic religion and the term is being reclaimed as such by them.

That contradicts ''atheism'', and 'agnostic'. Different meanings.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

That contradicts ''atheism'', and 'agnostic'. Different meanings.

Original usage of 'atheist' didn't indicate godlessness so much as lack of belief in the 'standard Gods'.

 

[Neo Deist]

Why has religious affiliation declined over the past 65 years (1950-2015)?

Because of liberals, atheists, social media, and science.

Liberals and atheists demanded that prayer be removed from school, God be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, religious icons/statues be removed from public property, government buildings can't have things like the 10 Commandments displayed, and they preach nothing but SQUASH SQUASH SQUASH religion...it takes a toll. They act like every little religious thing is offensive to them. If that is the case, they are some thin skinned individuals.

Social media spreads that message and reaches millions (and billions) over night. People are tired of the same, old school, "you're going to burn in hell" nonsense that is archaic in nature. Being repeatedly told that you are a wretch, a sinner, unworthy, you must repent, bow down, etc. becomes aggravating and people brush it off, not wanting to hear it anymore.

Science has shown that biblical concepts, such as The Global Flood or Adam and Eve, are simply not true. The earth is round, not flat, and the earth is certainly not the center of the universe...even though The Church used to maintain those beliefs. People are starting to think for themselves, and while a moral lesson can be learned from Bible stories, many people regard them as works of fiction...stories that ancient humans told around the campfire at night.

That is why organized religion has declined.

That is also why deism is the fastest growing religious affiliation in the USA!
[source was cited in the Deism DIR]

Incidentally, has anyone noticed another trend in the past 65 years? The more that religion gets squashed, the higher the crime rates climb. Hmmm...

 

[Skwim]

Why has religious affiliation declined over the past 65 years (1950-2015)?

Because of liberals, atheists, social media, and science.

Liberals and atheists demanded that prayer be removed from school, God be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, religious icons/statues be removed from public property, government buildings can't have things like the 10 Commandments displayed, and they preach nothing but SQUASH SQUASH SQUASH religion...it takes a toll. They act like every little religious thing is offensive to them. If that is the case, they are some thin skinned individuals.

So let me get this straight. Religion can't succeed on its own merits, but needs help from the government, in particular not letting the law of the land get in its way. Interesting.

Social media spreads that message and reaches millions (and billions) over night. People are tired of the same, old school, "you're going to burn in hell" nonsense that is archaic in nature. Being repeatedly told that you are a wretch, a sinner, unworthy, you must repent, bow down, etc. becomes aggravating and people brush it off, not wanting to hear it anymore.

Science has shown that biblical concepts, such as The Global Flood or Adam and Eve, are simply not true. The earth is round, not flat, and the earth is certainly not the center of the universe...even though The Church used to maintain those beliefs. People are starting to think for themselves, and while a moral lesson can be learned from Bible stories, many people regard them as works of fiction...stories that ancient humans told around the campfire at night.

That is why organized religion has declined.

One reason, anyway.

That is also why deism is the fastest growing religious affiliation in the USA!
[source was cited in the Deism DIR]

Don't know the figures, but my suspicion is that it's like the guy who crows that sales of his Double-bubbly Cola doubled in one week, because he just sold a bottle to his second customer.

Incidentally, has anyone noticed another trend in the past 65 years? The more that religion gets squashed, the higher the crime rates climb. Hmmm...

Nope, But I did notice that the less people watch black and white movies the higher the crime rate has climbed. Hmmm.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Incidentally, has anyone noticed another trend in the past 65 years? The more that religion gets squashed, the higher the crime rates climb. Hmmm...

At best that is correlation. But honestly, it doesn't even seem that, even if I limit myself to the USA as a source of 'truth'...

 

[sun rise]

To me all of this is the first part of what a Sufi said many years ago:
To those who seek truth in conventionalized religion:
Until college and minaret have crumbled
This holy work of ours will not be done.
Until faith becomes rejection
And rejection becomes belief
There will be no true believer.

 

[Sees]

At best that is correlation. But honestly, it doesn't even seem that, even if I limit myself to the USA as a source of 'truth'...

Wouldn't trust either of those

People who go to church services more than seldom or never is no where close to 50%...and the murder rates are rarely high in the communities with the most prevalent church attendance. Vast majority of murders are in a few key metropolitan areas and the more churchy communities are more rural, old-fashioned.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Wouldn't trust either of those

People who go to church services more than seldom or never is no where close to 50%...and the murder rates are rarely high in the communities with the most prevalent church attendance. Vast majority of murders are in a few key metropolitan areas and the more churchy communities are more rural, old-fashioned.

That's kinda the point though...whatever random graphs I stick up would AT BEST determine correlation, but in no way causation.
Incidentally, the church attendance thing is a well known bias in results where people are asked about their attendance as a form of measurement. Anyone who sees 'religion' as vaguely positive and has attended as much as a wedding/funeral/christening in the last 2 years has a tendency to rate themselves a church attender.

I wouldn't go TOO far on the rate of murder vs church attendance though. I mean, I get your point, but there can be a strong bias at play. Consider Vermont (lowest rate of church attendance by state, very low murder rate) versus Mississipi...
Of course, I just ignored Utah, which has a high attendance and low murder rate, but again...that's kinda the point I'm making. None of this establishes anything LIKE causation.

 

[Sees]

That's kinda the point though...whatever random graphs I stick up would AT BEST determine correlation, but in no way causation.
Incidentally, the church attendance thing is a well known bias in results where people are asked about their attendance as a form of measurement. Anyone who sees 'religion' as vaguely positive and has attended as much as a wedding/funeral/christening in the last 2 years has a tendency to rate themselves a church attender.

I wouldn't go TOO far on the rate of murder vs church attendance though. I mean, I get your point, but there can be a strong bias at play. Consider Vermont (lowest rate of church attendance by state, very low murder rate) versus Mississipi...
Of course, I just ignored Utah, which has a high attendance and low murder rate, but again...that's kinda the point I'm making. None of this establishes anything LIKE causation.

The things we see most common in criminals is lack of healthy cultural identification and values, poor family structure, etc. think religion, as usually used in only meaning belief system, is a part of it but not the whole shebang. When people have a proud, healthy, strong foundation they just tend to act like decent, normal folks. The people in and out of the justice system don't have that stuff from religion or otherwise.

I don't think most religious people, even specifically Christians, attend church at all...the common complaint is they don't find the right church or just don't think it's necessary to go regardless...the "church=people, not a building" types.

 

[Neo Deist]

At best that is correlation. But honestly, it doesn't even seem that, even if I limit myself to the USA as a source of 'truth'...

You failed to include all crime with your nice little graph that only represents reported murders. Yes the 70s and 80s had a higher murder rate. Care to guess why?

I'll save you the time. Has to do with bikers, gangs, drug cartels....

 

[Neo Deist]

Don't know the figures, but my suspicion is that it's like the guy who crows that sales of his Double-bubbly Cola doubled in one week, because he just sold a bottle to his second customer.

The study was done over an 11 year period. 717% increase in those that identify as deists. Highest numbers of any religion in the USA.

 

[Desert Snake]

The study was done over an 11 year period. 717% increase in those that identify as deists. Highest numbers of any religion in the USA.

This is likely people from atheism, and deism is very easy to join, as a religion.

You,ll trend from atheism to theism, because the theism numbers are more, in the first place. An isolated atheist trend will shift to either the same, or other denominations, -as it trends towards theism., however one might expect an increase in attendance-adherence, to faiths that do not require a lot preliminary ceremony, etc.

Hence your deism increase

 

[Sees]

The study was done over an 11 year period. 717% increase in those that identify as deists. Highest numbers of any religion in the USA.

This is likely people from atheism, and deism is very easy to join, as a religion.

You,ll trend from atheism to theism, because the theism numbers are more, in the first place. An isolated atheist trend will shift to either the same, or other denominations, -as it trends towards theism., however one might expect an increase in attendance-adherence, to faiths that do not require a lot preliminary ceremony, etc.

Hence your deism increase

People often get initiated into Wicca and some sources give them a 1400-1600% increase in America during the same period...just sayin'

The same perfect storm that makes irreligiousness become more prevalent also worked to rocket "alternative faiths"...big name bookstores all over the place, internet access, religious scandals, Science being promoted as a specific, positive, world-changing entity, society becoming more and more accepting that being non-Christian is OK, etc. they all are part of it and lots more.

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The concern for ecological awareness and sustainable living is a huge, huge thing for growth of pagan traditions...and just like all the above, it doesn't mean they are the true, right way of knowledge and goodness.

China may have more Christians right now than the U.S. does or ever did...it's being hushed by the government and is hard to get accurate numbers. The rate that is pretty certain is still very astonishing and it coincides right along with a big increase education and access to information.

So with two contradictory cases between the U.S. and China - what would be the assumptions?

 

[Altfish]

Incidentally, has anyone noticed another trend in the past 65 years? The more that religion gets squashed, the higher the crime rates climb. Hmmm...

That has been proven to be NOT true.
The states in the US with the most murders and most people in jail correlate almost exactly with the states that are most religious.
The same applies in Europe, the least religious countries are the ones with least crime.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

That has been proven to be NOT true.
The states in the US with the most murders and most people in jail correlate almost exactly with the states that are most religious.
The same applies in Europe, the least religious countries are the ones with least crime.

I think crime was worse in the '70s and '80s, as well.