When the new American Religious Identification Survey came out last month, news organizations jumped on it like preteens at a Jonas Brothers concert. CNN described the “rejection of religion” in America, while USA Today proclaimed America the “land of the freelancers.” However successful these articles were in catching the reader’s attention, they were hardly based on the truth: Religion is far from dead in America.
The study, conducted by Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. is comprised of religious questions that were previously asked in 1990 and 2001. Deceitfully, nearly all of the analysis of the survey focused on the trends from 1990 to 2008, rather than the new information that shows how we’ve changed since 2001. When you analyze the most recent patterns, it becomes evident that America is hardly any less religious than we were at the turn of the century.
In 1990, 86 percent of Americans considered themselves Christian ““ now only 76 percent do. This statistic seems hugely significant until you see that 76.7 percent of Americans called themselves Christian in 2001. While publications such as Newsweek jumped all over this number ““ see their April 13 cover: “The Decline and Fall of Christian America” ““ educated readers aren’t the slightest bit duped.
Atheists excitedly point to the study’s finding that the percentage of Americans with no religion has almost doubled from 1990 to 2008 ““ 8.2 percent to 15 percent ““ while omitting the fact that a full 14.1 percent claimed no religion in 2001. While these numbers scarcely support the theory that America is dropping its religion, secularists utilize them to support their viewpoint.
Roy Natian, a 2008 UCLA graduate and founder of Bruin Alliance of Skeptics and Secularists, explained the trend in terms of progress.
“It’s a good thing that this is occurring. In the past, religion had an important social purpose, to help form groups and survive. The religious beliefs were not true, just functional,” Natian said. “Today, with advances in science, medicine and technology, religion solely holds a social purpose. It doesn’t hold a monopoly over survival anymore.”
Despite these rationalizations, the theory that modernity equals secularization is a tough sell. Betting against American religion has always proved to be a losing game, from Robert Ingersoll proclaiming in 1880, “The churches are dying out all over the land,” to Time’s 1966 Easter issue that read “Is God Dead?” With three-fourths of Americans firmly Christian ““ a number likely to increase due to the economic turmoil ““ it certainly seems like religion is here to stay.
One person isn’t convinced that atheism will ever take down religion, despite what the survey analysts concluded.
“I don’t see atheism as providing a sense of meaning and motivation for people to care for others. For many intellectual atheists, just because you have your heads on straight doesn’t mean your heart cares for people,” said Scott Bartchy, the UCLA senior director of the Center for the Study of Religions.
Christians still outnumber non-believers five to one, and the slight decline of the Christian faith since 2001 can be largely explained by the politics of the last eight years. Just as the “˜Religious right’ turned a lot of people away in the 1990s, George W. Bush’s unpopular presidency that included religious-driven policies motivated many to reconsider their faith. Intertwining religion and government doesn’t exactly have a winning history, and some Americans responded to Bush’s policies by abandoning their faith.
Despite these few concessions, America’s free market of ideas has always been a breeding ground for religion. Christianity has thrived in this country, and is unlikely to fail the test of time.
So please don’t make the mistake of looking at a few numbers and concluding that religion is headed for the exit in America. While it may seem this way from biased analyses, God is certainly not dead.
If you agree that God is alive and thriving, e-mail Pearring at spearring@media.ucla.edu.
Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.