For the first time ever, the
percentage of Americans who belong to a house of worship such as a church or
synagogue has fallen below 50%, according to a
new Gallup survey.
The recent poll found that
only 47% of Americans reported membership in a place of worship in 2020,
continuing a steep downward trend that began in the early 2000s. In 1937,
when Gallup first began tracking church membership, 73% of Americans reported
belonging to a house of worship. Membership (and church attendance) continued at
nearly the same high levels for almost seven more decades. In 1999, 70% of
Americans still said they belonged to a house of worship. For some reason, or
reasons, membership began steadily declining in the early 2000s, a trend that
continues apace, with no sign of slowing.
Gallup said of its survey’s
findings: "Over the past two decades, the percentage of Americans who do
not identify with any religion has grown from 8% in 1998-2000 to 13% in
2008-2010 and 21% over the past three years. As would be expected, Americans
without a religious preference are highly unlikely to belong to a church,
synagogue or mosque, although a small proportion — 4% in the 2018-2020 data —
say they do. That figure is down from 10% between 1998 and 2000."
Those from younger generations
in particular are rapidly abandoning or avoiding religion. Gallup noted, "Church
membership is strongly correlated with age, as 66% of traditionalists — U.S.
adults born before 1946 — belong to a church, compared with 58% of baby boomers,
50% of those in Generation X and 36% of Millennials." (The flight
from Christian churches is even more striking when you realize that a higher
percentage of Americans are members of a Mosque than ever before, though
that percentage is still low.)
Violent—and other—crime
is rising in virtually all major American cities. Rates of addiction, depression
and suicide are also rising dramatically. Syringes and human feces line the
streets and sidewalks of formerly paradisical cities such as San Francisco, Los
Angeles, Seattle and Portland. A growing number of us find it difficult to
figure out what gender we may be. Pot, ‘shrooms and even hard
drugs are being legalized in many locales. Criminals are being let out of
jail, while hard working small business owners are being ushered into jail.
Police departments are being demonized and defunded. There is a growing push to
legalize
polygamy. Yet it is a crime to say “All Lives Matter.”
But this is all just coincidence,
post hoc ergo propter hoc randomness, right? It can’t possibly be a result of
the staggeringly rapid loss of religiosity that is occurring in America and
much of the West, can it? Nah!
So let’s let those on the Left
continue to criminalize Christianity and legalize crime. What could possibly go
wrong?
After all, they are vouching for Gomorrah.
It was tolerant and inclusive, you see.
No comments:
Post a Comment