Saturday, April 2, 2016

A positive side-effect

Church attendance is declining in the United States. Does this mean institution-weary Americans are now praying privately to solve their problems, or to help others? As terrorism becomes a global threat and political compromise a distant memory, nearly a third of Millennials are  now secular, and 20% say they are "not spiritual at all,"making them the least religious generation in the past 50 years. Which begs the question:


"There's a greater willingness now to say, 'I'm not religious,'" says Christian Smith of the University of Notre Dame. But he explains that this trend has a positive side-effect. "For people who do continue to practice religion, (their communities) tend to be made up of the seriously committed, not just those swept along by obligation." In these communities, the answer may still be "yes."

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