this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
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Over the past few decades, the number of Americans who identify as religiously unaffiliated—often referred to as “nones”—has grown rapidly. In the 1970s, only about 5% of Americans fell into this category. Today, that number exceeds 25%. Scholars have debated whether this change simply reflects a general decline in belief, or whether it signals something more complex. The research team wanted to explore the deeper forces at play: Why are people leaving institutional religion? What are they replacing it with? And how are their personal values shaping that process?

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[–] WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works 179 points 3 weeks ago (9 children)

Well, my whole life, I've lived in a society where organized Christianity has overwhelmingly been a force for evil, rather than a force for good. Fuck, I straight-up believe that most Evangelical Christians are devil worshipers. If your religion leads you to hate, you aren't worshiping God, you're worshiping the Devil.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 80 points 3 weeks ago (13 children)

Christianity is, by definition, a cult of human sacrifice.

Kinda puts the entire faith into perspective.

[–] sangriaferret@sh.itjust.works 41 points 3 weeks ago (12 children)
[–] athairmor@lemmy.world 23 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

They ritualistically eat the body and blood of their god/savior.

Let that sink in.

[–] Valso@lemmy.ml 2 points 6 days ago

And they're carcass worshippers. Think about it: they collect and pray to the body parts of different "saints"- hands, legs, skulls. etc. If you look through their own commandments, they'll be the first on the line to their hell. 😆

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[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago

Well, they were in luck... he's only mostly dead. If he was all the way dead, it wouldn't have worked. but Mostly dead? Miracle Max can work with that.

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[–] CXORA@aussie.zone 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

No. The christoan God is evil. They're doing exactly as their religion demands.

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[–] bytesonbike@discuss.online 73 points 3 weeks ago (8 children)

I support a few religious organizations through volunteer work.

My rules for these organizations are simple:

  1. The religion takes a back seat to helping the community
  2. They're not preachy or trying to convert people
  3. They don't diddle little kids.

You'd think it'll be easy to meet that criteria.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 23 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

How would you even know if #3 was true or not, it's not like they advertise it.

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[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 18 points 3 weeks ago

I'm curious which is more common a failing #3 or #2.

most christian charity or aid orgs are mostly about that captive audience.

[–] Ketram@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Only one I can think of is Unitarian Universalist for all 3. Maybe some sort of Buddhism? Though probably have broken #3 and are very big/organized.

[–] bytesonbike@discuss.online 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I do volunteer for a Unitarian church and a Buddhist temple! Nailed it.

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[–] wetbeardhairs@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Can unitarian universalist even be considered a religion? Isn't it just a catch-all group for people to get together and worship in a more harmonious way?

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[–] solsangraal@lemmy.zip 62 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

there is literally nothing that religion can provide that can't be gotten without religion

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 21 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

For real. You can just buy those styrofoam wafers and some cheap wine if you really want them. You don't have to go to church.

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[–] athairmor@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago

I guess messed up ideas about sexuality and consent in general aren’t strictly under their purview. Or, subservience to arbitrary authority figures.

What about rape in a rectory? Probably doesn’t happen too often outside of a religious context.

[–] Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world 52 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

insight into why.

Because it's not fucking real?

This isn't rocket surgery.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 22 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

That hasn't become any more or less true in recent years, though. It's worth asking why people are now thinking of the idea differently than they did for the past several thousand

[–] MouldyCat@feddit.uk 11 points 3 weeks ago

Well I suppose there's still no proof that there never was a so-called "divine Y-chromosome" as believed in by Christians, but before we knew about DNA, or even human cells, the ridiculous legends of religion were definitely harder to refute. The ridiculousness of those legends was a big part of their power - the more stupid and unhinged a religious story appears to us today, the more in awe believers would have been about it 300 or 400 years ago.

So while religion hasn't become less real in recent years, it has become a lot easier to point out its absurdities.

[–] crystalmerchant@lemmy.world 33 points 3 weeks ago

Lmao because it's horse shit that's why

Source: me, a 37-yo exmormon who was all-in, true believer, until his mid 20s.

[–] gerowen@lemmy.world 32 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Because it's all horseshit?

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[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 32 points 3 weeks ago

The faster the better. It’s fundamentalists creating a lot of the problems in the world as they try to force their beliefs on others.

[–] SunshineJogger@feddit.org 30 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Good for them.

These ancient lies designed for crowd control have been horrible these past thousand years.

Not that modern political groups or sects etc are much better...

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[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 28 points 3 weeks ago

My guess is that the extreme hatred flowing out of outspoken "Christians" in the US is a huge turn-off, as it should be.

[–] Zomg@lemmy.world 27 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Because I don't need God to be a good person, or know what good morals are.

[–] P1k1e@lemmy.world 19 points 3 weeks ago

Not to mention you'll do a better job at it if you think for yourself on the subject rather than delegating it to a spiritual leader with potentially dubious agendas

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[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 26 points 3 weeks ago

Because it's a grift?

[–] BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.world 26 points 3 weeks ago

Part of this is just that the socially conservative pressure to fit in has eased. Time was you had to be "religious" to fit in to communities and it was seen as part of American identity.

I find it hard to believe 75% of Americans are religious. In the UK 37% identify as non religious. 45% identify as Christian yet churches have emptied our and most young people only end up in one for marriages or funerals. People say they're Christian but I have no doubt a large chunk of those people are just ticking a box on a census form as it's part of their identity.

[–] salacious_coaster@infosec.pub 20 points 3 weeks ago

Better understanding of the physical world than previous generations, for one thing. That and the advent of TV and Internet made it much harder to hide the hypocrisy and crimes.

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 19 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (5 children)

should be happening with gen z and alpha too, but gen z has more right wingers than previous generations, due to significant propaganda.

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[–] MangioneDontMiss@lemmy.ca 19 points 3 weeks ago

because its bullshit?

[–] Doomsider@lemmy.world 16 points 3 weeks ago

No no no, this ancient religion from the Middle East based off of several other cultures mythology is the TRUTH!

[–] Zenith@lemm.ee 15 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

Everyone, myself included always come back to the same reason - there is no proof.

If I was given actual proof of a god or pantheon or any other ridiculous nonsense I’d absolutely change my mind but actual proof magic exists can’t exist because magic isn’t real

I fully accept that I don’t and can’t truly understand the universe but where the fuck does that somehow morph into “god did it” it’s ok not to know everything I don’t need made up bullshit to fill the gaps so I can feel better about not having every answer. Live with not knowing, that’s what being human is meant to be, acceptance

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[–] DantesFreezer@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago

I feel like the unloved sect is really the unitarian universalists. They're basically a doctrine free "church" of social justice. Like, I love going sometimes and just getting more advice on how to be an excellent human to others. And then we have snacks.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I feel like they're missing an important point

Most organized religions blue the line between clergy and god so followers need to believe their religious leaders are pretty close to infallible, like God is claimed to be.

However with modern society, information is easy to get and everywhere. So people know about organized religion's issues, and without that structure and reinforcement, we see a slower but substantial reduction in general belief in God that will continue for generations as less people are indoctrinated into organized religion at a young age.

Not sure why the author acts like it's a mystery

[–] N0t_5ure@lemmy.world 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Most organized religions blue the line between clergy and god so followers need to believe their religious leaders are pretty close to infallible, like God is claimed to be.

It's because the fundamental purpose of religion is control for the purpose of concentrating power.

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[–] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Here's my theory why:

  • People nowadays have higher average education and can much more easilly spot the logical inconsistences in Religion.
  • People are so overexposed and overwhelmed by swindles in the modern era that they are more naturally spotting the swindle nature of ancient swindles such as Religion.
[–] fireweed@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

For their study, Schnabel and his colleagues used data from the National Study of Youth and Religion. This included four waves of longitudinal survey data and 183 in-depth interviews conducted from 2003 to 2013. The sample included over 1,300 individuals, each tracked from adolescence into young adulthood. [...] The number of respondents attending religious services dropped dramatically between 2003 and 2013.

The study used data that's 12 years old! Millennials are not young adults anymore. At this point it's well known that Americans, especially the younger cohorts, are moving away from religion, so why even bother reanalyzing ancient data?

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[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

For me it's because religion is brain cancer that fucks up anyone who takes it seriously.

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

To understand these trends more fully, the researchers analyzed interview data from 54 participants whose religious involvement had significantly declined over the decade.

These interviews revealed a recurring theme: many young people left institutional religion not because they stopped caring about spirituality, but because they felt a growing disconnect between their personal values and the teachings or practices of religious organizations. They spoke of churches that felt judgmental, hypocritical, or out of touch—particularly on issues of gender and sexuality. Participants described feeling alienated by institutions that seemed to limit, rather than support, their pursuit of authenticity, justice, and self-understanding.

[–] gabbath@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

They have tech now. And conspiracy theories. Lots of stuff to cult about. They can build their own religion if they want.

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