
America Is Becoming Less Religious - ryan_j_naughton
http://priceonomics.com/america-is-becoming-less-religious-secular/
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arenaninja
This shows that younger generations are less likely to be religious, but
there's no indication that they will not become more religious as they age.

The best "proof" it provides for the assertion is this: > According to GSS,
“unaffiliation” actually increased for all age cohorts over the past few
decades, but most dramatically for the youngest among them

So maybe we can say America is (very slowly) becoming less religious, but it's
still over 70% for the youngest age group listed here

~~~
jpatokal
This chart from the friendly article gives a very clear indication that
"unaffiliation" is growing across all age groups:

[http://pix-media.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/838/religion_5.png](http://pix-
media.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/838/religion_5.png)

Note that ~10% of 20-somethings in the 1990s were unaffiliated, and 22 years
later those same now 40-somethings have gone up to ~17%.

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justincormack
General indications are that the US is more than twice as religious as
anywhere in Europe (Poland might be highest, catholic countries seem to have
mpst persistence of religion). We are atheist, muslim, or generally not
bothered.

~~~
kcovia
If any Poles say otherwise, feel free to correct me, but my impression of
Poland's religiosity is largely dependent on the strong role of the Catholic
Church in recent historical affairs (Pope John Paul II, keeping Polish culture
alive during USSR era, etc.) and less on the population being more
"religious".

I don't think the majority of Poles are actively "Catholic" in their religious
metaphysical beliefs, but rather they all belong to the church because of its
cultural importance. I could be wrong, however, as I don't live there.

It makes me wonder about other countries where the church plays an important
cultural role (Italy, for example.)

~~~
justincormack
It is hard to tell from raw data whether there are cultural differences. Who
knows why Americans appear to be more religious?

~~~
ma2rten
Americans (outside of big cities) are genuinely more religious.

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Crito
I see what they've done there with the color coding (all variants on Christian
being blue) but that is totally unreadable. I'm not colorblind but the only
way I can identify what is being shown is by counting the stripes and legend
entries (second stripe from the bottom is the second from the bottom legend
entry). I swear _" Protestant (Black)"_ and _" Jehovah's Witness"_ are
literally the same color.

Are graphic designers no longer hired for this sort of thing? Or do graphic
designers no longer care?

~~~
imaginenore
Grey = not religious

Blue = Christianity and clones

seems pretty clear

~~~
Crito
I am interested in which Christian variants are less popular with younger
generations than others. That data is presented, but poorly.

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lmg643
I wonder if there is a way to distinguish the evolution of "values" as opposed
to the support of an organized religion. So while organized religion may fall
from favor, the value systems aren't going anywhere. And I don't think this is
such a bad thing, I just wish the supposed "secular" folks could stop
congratulating themselves for not going to church.

I say this because I see conventional "secular liberal" values as deeply
christian - one of the biggest being our obligation to care for the poor. A
scientifically organized society might well look at spending on the poor quite
differently, and not in ways we would recognize or agree with.

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seanalltogether
I'm curious if there's any survey data along the line of "Do you attend
religious services once or more per month"

Cultural identity tends to get so intertwined with religion that you can't
always separate the two.

~~~
Alex3917
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States)

See also:

[http://www.amazon.com/American-Grace-Religion-Divides-
Unites...](http://www.amazon.com/American-Grace-Religion-Divides-
Unites/dp/1416566732)

~~~
seanalltogether
Interesting, the linked page displays that up to 80% have a religious
affiliation, but the wiki article says that only 36% actually attended
religious services.

~~~
Alex3917
A large percentage of Americans participate in religious activities without
even knowing it, but these results are pretty typical given how these surveys
are usually conducted.

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Alex3917
This only shows that people no longer self-identify as strongly with
traditional religions. This doesn't actually show that America is becoming
less religious though in either beliefs or practice.

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hindsightbias
Less religious, but perhaps more orthodox.

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dennisbest
Thank god!

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anonymousfox
hallelujah

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oftenwrong
Stacked bar charts are terrible.

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programminggeek
Without getting into a religious argument about truth, science, the existence
of God, etc...

I think there is a real unintended consequence of younger generations turning
away from all forms of religion or absolute spiritual truth in any form. In
short, there is a set of morals and ethics that is deeply rooted in
Christianity and Judaism that for a long time helped steer this country in a
generally good direction. In the absence of any great sense of moral
authority, right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, etc. you have a completely
situational and relative morality.

That is to say, what is right and wrong depends on who you are, what you
believe, and your own personal sense of justice or fairness. Eventually,
things are only wrong if they are deemed illegal, and laws can be written to
say anything or do anything. At some point the only thing that is "wrong" is
upsetting someone more powerful than you. As in, it's only wrong if you get
caught or get in trouble.

For example, many international companies play on the fringes of the
international tax code by routing money through various shell companies and
intermediaries so as to avoid paying taxes in various countries. If it was the
mafia and they sold drugs instead of software or advertising, it would be
considered money laundering, which we should all agree is illegal and wrong.

Now, when people read stories on that topic, they comment that Google or Apple
aren't doing anything wrong because what they are doing is "perfectly legal",
even if they are going out of their way to avoid the spirit of the law.
Shareholders are fine with this behavior because they are greedy and it makes
them more money. As long as nobody is thrown in jail, what does it hurt right?

A stronger moral standard would be to say that if you are doing business in a
country, you should pay a reasonable and fair tax rate along with everyone
else doing business in that country. To skirt tax obligations through
financial maneuvering and engineering the flow of money is somewhat akin to
stealing.

I am not pro media companies ripping people off, but people take a very
similar approach to illegal file sharing for their favorite shows and movies.
If something is available for rental or purchase at a reasonable price, people
should pay the $1-4 to rent or about $5-15 to buy. However, many people choose
to download things illegally without any intent of paying the producers of
their favorite movie, game, or tv show. At some point, theft is theft.

I'm not saying that life is perfect if everyone is a Christian believer or
anything like that. What I'm saying is there are morals and ethics that are
falling by the wayside amongst Christians and non-Christians and I've seen
nothing in secularism, athiesm, or agnosticsm that is doing much to replace
them.

I don't know where we end up as a country, but the trend away from faith and
any sense of moral or ethical absolutes is going to be one of the worst
unintended consequences of the modern "enlightenment" of science and
technology.

For all the technical or intellectual progress we've made in the last 100
years, morally and ethically we seem to be worse off.

~~~
dmishe
It looks like we stone people to death less and don't burn witches and less
likely to put your penis inside a metal tube to prevent masturabation.

Now, if somebody would teach more people not to put their dirty feet on seats
that would be nice.

I definitely like your argument that all of those old books were written as a
life rulebook, but it got kinda carried away after and I think we're due for
update, like bible 2.0 or something.

~~~
fixedd
Will Bible 2.0 still tell us how to treat our slaves and rape victims?

~~~
dmishe
Well, hopefully? As well as telling that abortions are up to the woman,
contraception is ok and gay people are actually just people.

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icebraining
What does it mean for a person to be "secular", anyway? What a weird label to
self-identify as.

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theworst
Generally it means that you do not identify with a particular religious sect.
It may also mean that you do not believe in the organized supernatural ideas
that most religions do.

~~~
icebraining
Exactly, but that doesn't tell us if you're actually religious or not! You may
or may not have a personal religion. That's why I found it weird in this case,
where the while point of the survey was to know if people are religious.

~~~
theworst
IMO, religion is something organized and part of a community. "Spirituality"
is when it's something personal (and, as I get older, I am coming to believe
is an important part of my life, even though I don't believe in anything
supernatural.)

