American Christianity on the Decline

A recent study from the Pew Research Center found that Christianity in America as a percentage of the total population is falling precipitously and could eventually vanish.

I would submit the following:

“Vanish” is a big word.  The graph definitely shows a steady reduction of the percentage value but projects a decelerating rate.

An important factor in play is the stigma society puts on atheism.  By way of example, the U.S. has never had a president who didn’t claim to be a Christian.  Having said that, I seriously doubt that an intellectual like Barack Obama has any serious religious conviction.  It’s also clear that Trump, regardless of his claims and the way he’s regarded by evangelicals, is not a Christian in any meaningful sense of the word.

At a certain point in the near future, we’ll have a president with the integrity to admit that he/she is “non-religious.” At that point, the stigma will have all but completely disappeared.

On a parallel track, science continues to gain steam by answering more and more questions about the world in which we live.  Yes, there are people who overtly reject science, e.g., QAnon, while others claim that religion and science are not mutually exclusive, but both these positions seem to be standing on unstable ground.