Religion's influence is waning in America today,
roughly 28% of American adults identify as either atheists, agnostics, or nothing in particular.
In 2007, just 15% of Americans identified with no religion.
That's all, according to the Pew Research Center.
It's taken as common sense that this is a problem.
Just 16% of people in a September 2022 poll said that religion's decline was good,
while a plurality said the decline.
Was a bad thing.
These conversations have become bound up in larger concerns about the loneliness epidemic
and the decline in Americans hanging out.
My colleague Derek Thompson wondered in a recent article if, in foregoing organized religion,
an isolated country has discarded an old and proven source of ritual at a time when we most need it.
The surgeon general put out a report last year on our epidemic of loneliness and isolation.
Religious groups have sought to market themselves as a solution.
One Boston Globe op ed argued
that religion can play a critical role in alleviating the loneliness epidemic.
Now, to lay my cards on the table.
I'm a Christian, but I'm also skeptical about the broad narratives around the loneliness crisis,
about the broad brushstrokes used to paint people who don't consider themselves religious,
and the treatment of church as a panacea for all our social ills.