America’s shifting demographics portend doom for the modern-day philosophy of the Republican Party, according to a leading social researcher. But democracy still could be “doomed” while waiting for those demographic shifts, according to a national columnist reflecting on the data….
Americans growing less religious and more strictly religious at the same time
In the current sociology of American religion, there are two trends moving in opposite directions. The “nones” are growing in number, while among those who identify as Christian, varieties of fundamentalism are growing. Religion researcher Ryan Burge recently summarized this…
Why I’m among the unchurched today
In his Nov. 9 analysis, “The Church Is Losing Its Way,” Rob Sellers outlines the numerous ways in which the church is failing. In addition to Sellers’ list (irrelevance, unchallenging, unaccepting, and, most interestingly, unChristlike), I would like to add…
Losing my religion
Do we really wonder why so many people are leaving organized religion? A new Gallup poll has found that for the first time, the proportion of Americans who say they are members of a church, synagogue or mosque has dropped…
America 2021: Got church and steeple but where are the people?
Growing up in Texas during the Southern Baptist Iron Age, I learned this bit of gospel doggerel somewhere between Sunday School, Vacation Bible School or Romper Room (Google it) and the hand-signals that accompanied it: Here is the church, Here…
Join Ryan Burge and Mark Wingfield for a free webinar on the ‘nones’
Ryan Burge — political scientist, pastor, statistician and author of a new book on the “nones” in American religious life — will be the guest on BNG’s next free webinar, scheduled for Monday, April 26, at 7 p.m. Eastern time…
Ryan Burge sifts the data to paint an evolving portrait of the ‘nones’
There was a time, not all that long ago, when no minister, denominational leader or seminary administrator ever heard of — or worried about — a “none.” That’s partly because there wasn’t yet a name for religiously unaffiliated Americans, partly…
Less than half of Americans now claim a formal congregational membership
The exodus from formal affiliation with U.S. houses of worship continued its relentless pace in 2020 as congregational membership hit an all-time low in the 80 years Gallup has tracked it. The practice of “belonging” to a church, mosque or…
Gen Z and growth of the ‘nones’ might have swung presidential election
Republicans unhappy with the outcome of the 2020 presidential election are likely in for continued disappointment as younger generations of religiously unaffiliated Americans become eligible to vote, political scientist Ryan Burge said. This shift is demographically inevitable as members of…