One thing I’ve noted is that there is a lot of data out there on religion in America, but pronouncements by many in the public eye seem decoupled from the reality. For example, from the American Religious Identification Survey:
Looking at patterns of religious change from this perspective, the evidence points as much to the rejection of faith as to the seeking of faith among American adults. Indeed, among those who previously had no religion, just 5% report current identification with one or another of the major religions.
Some groups such as Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses appear to attract a large number of converts (“in-switchers”), but also nearly as large a number of apostates (“out-switchers”). It is also interesting to note that Buddhists also fall into this category of what one might call high-turnover religious groups.
Here is the table that goes with this text (sorry for the small type):
So all this talk of a “religious revival” that you hear in the popular press is a load of crap, polarization might be correct, but inspirational profiles of those seeking spirituality makes a hell of a lot better copy than of those who lost faith. Additionally, there are those on the Left and the Right who want to promote the idea of a religious revival for political and personal reasons.
Posted by razib at 12:24 PM