Question: Is religiosity on the wane in America?
Andrew Kohut: You know I don’t think that . . . that . . . that . . . that describes it. The new, younger generation is a little bit more secular than younger people were, say, 10 years ago. But it’s only . . . that’s only . . . represents a reversal of a trend of more religiosity that we saw in the ‘90s. This remains an extremely religious country. You’re right about the trend; but in sum and substance, this is the most religious, rich country in the world. In fact it’s probably the only religious, rich country in the world. There is a negative correlation between how religious a country is and what its per capita income is. All you have to do is look at secular Europe, another wealthy part of the planet. And really there’s a lot less religiosity and religious church attendance and all sorts of things in Europe than there is in the United States.
Recorded On: 9/14/07
Discuss
John Coffey on October 27, 2008, 7:55 PM
I am a Free Thinker so I naturally expect our kind to grow. I would agree also with late John Lennon, one of famous 4 Beatles singers, on his opinion that: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that. I’m right and I will be proved right.”
However, we may expect to see a lot of change by 2020, as there’s a likely spurt in the number of “unchurched” or “nonbeliever” category of people in U.S. in the next decade. Signs have just started about October, 2007 that they’re becoming more vociferous with billboards hoasted up in some big cities to reveal their beliefs, so people might be influenced more than ever.
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