Religion: Too soon to say goodbye

Rumors of religion's demise in American may have been greatly exaggerated.

Analyses of data from the General Social Survey and the Baylor Religion Survey by Dr. Byron Johnson, co-director of Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion, support such a premise.

His analyses refute, for instance, the rapid rise of people without religious affiliations, the deserting of houses of worship by young people under 30, the exiting by millennials from the faith of their parents and the declining involvement of women in religion.

The release of Johnson's analyses coincidentally followed by one day late last month a Pew Research Center poll that indicated 72 percent of the public believe religion is losing its influence in America and mentioned a "rising share of the population that is not affiliated with any religion."

Though numerous surveys have remarked on the increase of the "nones," those who don't report a religious affiliation, the number of atheists in America has remained steady at 4 percent, according to Johnson. The "nones" have increased, he said, because traditional surveys do not ask respondents enough questions to accurately sort out religious affiliations.

Some of the "nones," he said, attend church regularly and even provide the surveys the name and address of their church. In general, the same people don't join social or civic clubs or political parties today, eschewing memberships, but remain active socially, in their community and politically.

Surveys for decades have found young people on their own -- in college or out, and single -- choose not to attend church, perhaps rebelling against parents who forced them into the habit while they were growing up.

But, Johnson said, church attendance rates recover once the young people marry and have children. However, if they don't marry, and particularly among the poor and less educated, attendance does not return to higher rates.

Millennials, whose birth years are often given between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, consider themselves religious, according to Johnson, but often describe themselves as "spiritual." And while they may leave their parents' faith or denomination for one more or less conservative, that does not mean they have left religion altogether.

Thirty-eight percent of women but only 26 percent of men described themselves as "very religious," according to the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey. That gap has been consistent since 1991, according to the General Social Survey, the analyses reported.

"A mountain of Gallup survey data attests to the idea that women are more religious than men, hold their beliefs more firmly, practice their faith more consistently, and work more vigorously for the congregation," George H. Gallup Jr. wrote in a 2002 analysis for the Gallup polling organization.

The same Pew survey that indicates religion is losing its influence in America reports that respondents see that fact as a negative. And the poll says a growing share of Americans want religion to play a role in United States politics, say there has been "too little" expression of religious faith and prayer from political leaders, and think churches should endorse candidates for political office.

Those facts about religion and politics go against everything the left has trumpeted for nearly 20 years. And while it may have been true to some extent for part of those 20 years, the excesses of the Obama era have changed the landscape, a fact the Pew survey bears out.

Indeed, increasingly, people view the Obama administration as unfriendly toward religion. In 2009, the year the president was inaugurated for his first term, 17 percent viewed the administration as unfriendly toward religion. That jumped to 23 percent in 2012 and 29 percent in the most recent Pew survey.

Such unfriendliness is borne out in a separate recent survey by Liberty Institute and the Family Research Council, "Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America," which documents some 1,600 hostile incidents this year, 25 percent more than 2013.

"We offer [this] as an alarm bell ringing in the night," the organization leaders said in a joint statement. "We believe the many public opinion surveys showing that you, the people, are still a religious people. We believe abundant research shows that religion remains a cornerstone of morality, order, charity and freedom. If you allow the forces of intolerance to steal religious freedom, you will forfeit all these benefits for yourself, your children and future generations."

Whether the various survey results lead to a resurgence in religion or a referendum at the November ballot box remains to be seen, but reports of the demise of faith in the U.S. seem to be wrongheaded.

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