More than a decade ago, the Pew Research Center released a path-breaking study on people without religion: “Nones” on the Rise. At the time, I was in graduate school studying political science and working full-time as a pollster. Partly inspired by this work, I wrote my dissertation exploring why people leave religion: “And Then There Were Nones: An Examination of the Rising Rate of Religious Non-affiliation Among Millennials.” (I’m a fan of Agatha Christie). I never turned it into a book, despite some prodding, but I remain passionately engaged in the topic.
So when I came across Jake Meador’s recent article in the Atlantic, “The Misunderstood Reason Millions of Americans Stopped Going to Church,” I dropped everything to read it. Meador wonders whether American culture has become too hyper-individualistic for religious communities to thrive. He states:
Contemporary America simply isn’t set up to promote mutuality, care, or common life. Rather, it is designed to maximize individual ac…
