Why the West has stopped losing its religion
After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young
FOR DECADES America’s fastest-growing religious affiliation was no religion at all. In 1990 just 5% of Americans said they were atheists, agnostics or believed in “nothing in particular”. By 2019 some 30% ticked those boxes. Those who left the pews became more socially liberal, married later and had fewer children. Churches, where once half of Americans mingled every Sunday, faded in civic life. Yet for the first time in half a century, the march of secularism has stopped (see chart 1).
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This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Not losing my religion”
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