Religion is dying
Publisher: In-Sight Publishing
Publisher Founding: March 1, 2014
Web Domain: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com
Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Journal: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal
Journal Founding: August 2, 2012
Frequency: Three (3) Times Per Year
Review Status: Non-Peer-Reviewed
Access: Electronic/Digital & Open Access
Fees: None (Free)
Volume Numbering: 11
Issue Numbering: 3
Section: B
Theme Type: Idea
Theme Premise: “Outliers and Outsiders”
Theme Part: 28
Formal Sub-Theme: None.
Individual Publication Date: August 15, 2023
Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2023
Author(s): James Haught
Author(s) Bio: James A. Haught, syndicated by PeaceVoice, was the longtime editor at the Charleston Gazette and had been the editor emeritus since 2015. He was thought to have been the first investigative reporter in West Virginia. He won two dozen national newswriting awards and was author of 12 books and 150 magazine essays. He was also a senior editor of Free Inquiry magazine and was writer-in-residence for the United Coalition of Reason. He died on Sunday, July 23, at the age of 91.
Word Count: 409
Image Credit: None
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2369-6885
*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citations, after the publication.*
Keywords: Christianity, dying, James Haught, religion, Ronald Inglehart, Secular Age.
Religion is dying
Religion is fading more quickly in the United States than in any other nation, according to a forthcoming research book.
Religion’s Sudden Decline: What’s Causing It, and What Comes Next, by University of Michigan scholar Ronald Inglehart, is to be released in January by Oxford University Press. Writing in Foreign Affairs magazine (in an advance summary titled “Giving Up on God: The Global Decline of Religion”) Inglehart says:
The most dramatic shift away from religion has taken place among the American public. From 1981 to 2007, the United States ranked as one of the world’s more religious countries, with religiosity levels changing very little. Since then, the United States has shown the largest move away from religion of any country for which we have data.
A profound cultural transformation is in progress — mostly happening quietly out of sight, little-noticed in daily life. Old supernatural beliefs are vanishing among intelligent, educated, science-minded people, especially the young. Religion is shriveling into the realm of myth and fantasy. Here are some indicators:
Almost two-thirds of teens who grow up in a church drop out of religion in their 20s, according to both Barna and LifeWay surveys.
The number of Americans who say their religion is “none” began to explode in the 1990s — first to one-tenth of the population, then climbing relentlessly to one-fourth. Among those under 30, “Nones” are now more than one-third.
American church membership has fallen 20 percent in the past two decades, according to Gallup research. Southern Baptists have dropped 2 million members since 2005.
Tall-steeple Protestant “mainline” denominations have suffered the worst. United Methodists have declined in numbers from 11 million in 1969 to below 7 million today — while America’s population has almost doubled. Evangelical Lutherans have decreased from 5.3 million in 1987 to 3.4 million now. The Presbyterian Church USA had 3.2 million in 1982 but now is around 1.3 million. The Episcopal Church went from 3.4 million in the 1960s to 1.7 million now.
These highbrow mainline faiths with seminary-educated ministers once drew public respect. But religion is shifting to lowbrow, emotional worship that is less admired. One-fourth of the world’s Christians now “speak in tongues,” researchers say. Christianity is moving from prosperous Northern nations to the less-developed tropics.
Let’s hope the Secular Age continues snowballing until supernatural religion is reduced to just an embarrassing fringe.
This piece is adapted from a column published at Informed Comment and OpEd News.
Bibliography
None
Footnotes
None
Citations
American Medical Association (AMA 11th Edition): Haught J. Religion is dying. August 2023; 11(3). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/religion-dying
American Psychological Association (APA 7th Edition): Haught, J. (2023, August 15). Religion is dying. In-Sight Publishing. 11(3). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/religion-dying.
Brazilian National Standards (ABNT): HAUGHT, J. Religion is dying. In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, Fort Langley, v. 11, n. 3, 2023.
Chicago/Turabian, Author-Date (17th Edition): Haught, James. 2023. “Religion is dying.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 11, no. 3 (Summer). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/religion-dying.
Chicago/Turabian, Notes & Bibliography (17th Edition): Haught, J “Religion is dying.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 11, no. 3 (August 2023).http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/religion-dying.
Harvard: Haught, J. (2023) ‘Religion is dying’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, 11(3). <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/religion-dying>.
Harvard (Australian): Haught, J 2023, ‘Religion is dying’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vol. 11, no. 3, <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/religion-dying>.
Modern Language Association (MLA, 9th Edition): Haught, James. “Religion is dying.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vo.11, no. 3, 2023, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/religion-dying.
Vancouver/ICMJE: James H. Religion is dying [Internet]. 2023 Aug; 11(3). Available from: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/religion-dying.
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