What Might NASA’s New Space Telescope Mean for Religion?
March 31, 2022
We are about to enter the golden age of space exploration. If you’re not a space nerd, this may be news to you, but NASA has embarked on one of the most ambitious projects in a generation. On December 25, 2021, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was launched into space. A successor to the immensely successful Continue Reading →
Why Religion Matters More for Working Class Men
March 17, 2022
Americans have become increasingly disconnected from each other. We join fewer organizations, spend less time with our neighbors, and have fewer friends than we did in the recent past. Working-class men have been especially hard-hit by this social recession. They’re more likely to experience social dislocation and alienation and the raft of social, psychological, and personal health problems that come Continue Reading →
Could Religious Changes Among Hispanics Lead to a Political Realignment?
March 4, 2022
In the 2020 presidential election, Trump surprised a lot of savvy political analysts when he increased his support among Hispanic voters by sizable margins. A Pew post-election analysis found that nearly four in ten (38 percent) Hispanic voters supported Trump in the 2020 election – a 10-point increase over his performance four years earlier. This startling development unleashed a Continue Reading →
Are We Approaching the End of the Secular Surge?
February 17, 2022
One of the defining demographic trends of the past several decades has been the rise of the “Nones,” also known as the religiously unaffiliated. The General Social Survey (GSS), which has measured national religious identity since the early 1970s, first identified the spike in nonreligious affiliation starting in the mid-1990s. In recent years, there have Continue Reading →
Is the Pandemic Sparking an Online Religious Revival?
February 4, 2022
One of the very first things the Internet accomplished was allowing people to bypass traditional gatekeepers. For religious Americans, the rise of the Internet meant unfettered and unfiltered access to information about their own faith. A 2001 Pew Research Center report found that one of the most common online activities for “Religious Surfers” (religious people who spent Continue Reading →
Will the Pandemic Bring About the End of Small Churches?
January 20, 2022
News about religious trends in the US is rarely upbeat. A recent exception was Bob Smietana’s article for Religion News Service in which he documented how declining service attendance has created a new category of “minichurches” that feature fewer members than you might find at a family reunion. But with fewer congregants, religious leaders are able to Continue Reading →
How Much Should We Worry about Political Violence?
January 6, 2022
Last year, Tom Gjelten of NPR asked me what I made of the fact that our poll showed nearly four in ten Republicans appeared to endorse the use of force in politics. I said it was “pretty scary”. A year later, I still feel that way. That 29 percent of Americans, and 39 percent of Republicans, appear ready to Continue Reading →
Charting the Most Important Findings in American Life in 2021
December 23, 2021
To round out the year, I’m sharing my top 10 list of the most revealing and arresting charts documenting changes to American life in 2021. Although many of these are based on our own survey work, we do not have a monopoly on producing insightful charts and compelling visualizations, so I included a few other Continue Reading →
Can Coffee Shops Fill in a Void Left When Churches Disappear?
December 9, 2021
As a long-time researcher on religious trends, I’ve spent a good part of my career documenting and discussing the decline of religion in American life. Oftentimes, at the conclusion of a lecture or presentation, I would be met with some combination of consternation and dismay. Then I get the inevitable question: “If religion is going Continue Reading →
Yes, You Should Talk Politics with Your Family Over Thanksgiving
November 24, 2021
Every year, the specter of political discord looms over the holidays. But despite the widespread attention it garners, few Americans report fighting over politics at the dinner table. This year, most of us are seeking to strenuously avoid political topics at family get-togethers. This is a mistake. Americans are likely tired of talking about politics. But we should. In Continue Reading →
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