For millions of Americans the idea of belonging to a church or congregation is declining. We find this interesting. Fewer and fewer people are attending church or are claiming to be religious, and many seem to be seeking community elsewhere. This podcast reviews the Evangelical sect of Christianity and looks at the decline in church attendance, church closures and the beliefs that have fallen outside the mainstream. The number of people who claim to not be religious may very well topple the number of people who adhere to one religion or another within our lifetimes. The divide within these groups is easily studied from examinations of political background, generational classification, and within one's own self-identification. In this podcast we will look at the numbers and discuss the theories as to why it's declining, and why it's declining at such an accelerated pace.
References
Brauer, S. (2017). How Many Congregations Are There? Updating a Survey-Based Estimate. JOURNAL for the SCIENTIFIC STUDY of RELIGION, 56(2), 438-448.
Cox, D., & Jones, R. (2017). America’s Changing Religious Identity. Washington D.C. : Public Religious Reseach Institute.
Green, E. (2017, Mar 10). White Evangelicals Believe They Face More Discrimination Than Muslims. Retrieved from The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/perceptions-discrimination-muslims-christians/519135/
Pew Reseach Center. (2012, Oct 9). Pew Reseach Center. Retrieved from “Nones” on the Rise: https://www.pewforum.org/2012/10/09/nones-on-the-rise/
Pew Research Center. (2015). Religion and Science; Highly religious Americans are less likely than others to see conflict between faith and science. Washington D.C. : Pew Research Center Science & Society. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2015/10/22/science-and-religion/
