The latest research published by the Pew Forum (and available to peruse in an interactive format at www.pewforum.org), shows that, from 2007-2014, the share of people in the United States who consider themselves “Christian” declined from 78% to 71%. The number of people who refuse to affiliate with any form of organized religion (the “nones”) rose from 16% to 23% of the population, making them the second largest religious category just behind Evangelical Protestants, who continued to add to their numbers but are no longer keeping up with population growth. Evangelicals’ share of the public declined from 26% to 25%. Meanwhile, the Catholic share of the population declined from 24% to 21%, and mainline Protestants are down from 18% to 15%. Historically black Protestant churches now account for 6.5% of the population, down only slightly from 6.9% in 2007.
There’s really nothing new in these numbers. They confirm trends that have been in place for 20 years. Apart from general hand-wringing over the increased secularization of America, two specific public responses have caught my attention. First, the secular media has focused on the political ramifications of declining religious commitment. They point out that those who call themselves “unaffiliated” tend to vote Democrat, so the rapid rise of this group suggests good news for Democrats in national elections. Second, some evangelical leaders are trumpeting their continued growth even though other forms of Christianity seem to be fading out. They regard the data as further evidence that eventually, they will be the only Christians around, proving the truth of their teachings.
Both these responses are too simplistic. With regard to the political ramifications, I don’t think Democrats can take much solace in the rise of the “nones,” because disenchantment with organized religion is only a piece of a wider disaffection from all traditional institutions, including political parties, and perhaps even the political process. With regard to the continued growth of evangelical churches, it
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