Week 4 - Religious Trends in Populations

Baby Boomers

(1946-1964) Loyalists, returnees, and dropouts.

Loyalists

Boomers who remained within America's religious traditions

Returnees

Boomers who deviated from their faith before returning to a religion.

Dropouts

Boomers who moved away from or were never affiliated with religion.

Generation X

(1965-1980): similar to Baby Boomers but less religious.

60% Christian compared to 75% for Boomers

Millennials

(1981-1995), showing a growing proportion of unaffiliated individuals.

Increase in belief that religion is losing influence

63% of Americans in 2000-2001 believed in this, growing to 76% in 2013.

Possible Reasons for loss of influence

1) Less confidence in religious institutions

2) Questions about ethical standards of clergy

3) Sermons increasingly irrelevant to modern life

Church Membership by 2020

Dropped below 50% for the first time

i\Influenced by unaffiliated individuals and those who do not attend services.

Religious Switching

28% of Americans change from the faith they were raised in, 44% if counting denominational shifts within Protestantism.

Most common among Catholics, least among Jews.

Less common in conservative faiths

Reasons for Religious Switching

disagreement with teachings (40%) and finding a more fulfilling faith (38%).

How is switching viewed?

More deviant than dropping out of religion.

Inter-Religious Marriage

22% in the 1960s to 39% between 2010-2014

Usually between Protestant Christian denominations

Least among Catholic, Jewish people

More likely to end in divorce (after children are born)

Modern Paganism

An umbrella term for various religious beliefs developed in the 1900s, heavily influenced by pre-Christian religions.

Wicca

The most well-known form of modern Paganism.

Why counting the Non-religious is difficult

Social desirability concerns (even among anonymous surveys), especially among older people, women, and is the strongest when identifying as “atheist”

Categories of Non-Religious Individuals

- Intellectual atheist/agnostic (37.6%)

- Activist atheist/agnostic (23%)

- Seeker-agnostic (7.6%)

- Anti-theist (14.8%)

o Highest levels of narcissism, dogmatism in follow-up survey

- Non-theist (4.4%)

- Ritual atheist/agnostic (12.5%)

Consequences of Non-Religious Prevalence

An increase in the perception of atheists as more prevalent can reduce anti-atheist distrust and promote public awareness.

Cultural Change Perception

Greater visibility of atheists is perceived as cultural change, which can be threatening to some Christians.

Demographic Changes Perception

Predictions of Christians becoming a minority lead to greater Christian nationalism and perceived threats to religious freedom.