The most important trend in American religion can be summarized in just two words: steady and uneven. For nearly the past three decades, national surveys have shown a consistent drop in religious affiliation, attendance, and even belief in God. At the same time, these same surveys show that this national decline varies dramatically by region, generation, and religious commitment.
Americans are inarguably more secular than they once were, but large numbers of Americans remain as staunchly committed to their faith and religious communities as ever. We are becoming a country with dueling religious experiences and perspectives—we are very religious and very secular.
How has this happened? It’s a result of who is leaving. Surveys have long shown that the Americans who disaffiliated or left their faith are those with comparatively weak religious attachments. This has been true for about as long as we’ve been measuring religious change. In a 2017 paper, Landon Schabel and Sean Bock find that…
