Quote (kenw @ Apr 7 2021 09:26pm)
To answer your title question, here's some data:
A Gallup poll released last week found just 47% of Americans reported belonging to a house of worship, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% as recently as 1999.
The shift away from organized religion is a 21st century phenomenon. U.S. religious membership was 73% when Gallup first measured it in 1937, and stayed above 70% for the next six decades.
Context: The decline in membership is primarily driven by a sharp rise in the "nones" — Americans who express no religious preference.
The percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion rose from 8% between 1998 and 2000 to 21% over the past three years, while the percentage of nones who do not belong to a house of worship has risen as well.
The big picture: The story of a more secular America is chiefly — though not entirely — one of generational change.
Membership in houses of worship is correlates with age, with the oldest Americans much more likely to be church members than younger adults.
But while church membership is lower among younger generations, the dropoff is particularly stark among millennials and Gen Z, who are about 30 percentage points lower than Americans born before 1946, compared to 8 points and 16 points respectively for baby boomers and Gen X.
i saw a study once that the atheist community and the religious community were both increasing and it was the "agnostic" (fence sitters) that was getting smaller. As though things were polarizing. I thought about if for a while and realized that is was not so long ago that I chose a side.
you have any stats on atheist church?
