https://politicalresearch.org/ The latest research related to spiritual but not religious en https://religiondispatches.org/2023/05/17/new-data-strongly-suggest-correlation-between-disaffiliation-and-christianitys For centuries, American evangelical Protestants have been obsessed with religious ‘revival.’ Fear of ostensible societal, moral, and religious ‘decline’ is the other side of the same paranoid Christian coin. The United States, deeply influenced by early Puritan settlers and other… Wed, 17 May 2023 03:10:02 EDT Chrissy Stroop 22349fab-511f-4a50-bae5-ef8a7222b312 https://religiondispatches.org/2023/01/06/new-report-shows-dems-are-far-more-religiously-diverse-gop-though-one-areligious-group Although the House of Representatives has yet to conduct any business due to a far far-right faction of Republican lawmakers denying the merely very right-wing California Representative Kevin McCarthy the speakership through 10 11 12 votes (and counting), a new… Fri, 06 Jan 2023 02:15:32 EST Chrissy Stroop 360e59ae-ab9e-44df-87a4-2ea3b2de10e9 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/02/17/tarot-just-cool-self-help-deck-cards NPR recently published an article from an episode of its Life Kit podcast titled “ Tarot can’t predict the future, but it can help you make that big decision,” presenting and endorsing the viewpoint of their guest: “As tarot reader… Thu, 17 Feb 2022 01:35:47 EST Daniel Wise b6e73cc3-23f8-4563-8b78-8c51277690b8 https://religiondispatches.org/2022/02/04/secularism-us-larger-more-diverse-and-more-dynamic-ever-you-wouldnt-know-it-media “I’m done waiting for mainstream media to cover nonreligious people and secular issues fairly and accurately,” says Sarah Levin , a woman who wears a number of hats in the institutional secular world. “I’m done waiting for them to stop… Fri, 04 Feb 2022 03:36:32 EST Chrissy Stroop 73de9be0-855e-4cba-b481-3a7546e21d9a https://religiondispatches.org/2022/01/20/what-can-real-life-haunting-tell-us-about-american-religion-updated While researching ghost hunters in the 21st century US during the course of earning my PhD, I was sometimes asked what ghost-hunting had to do with religious studies. In fact, Americans’ interactions with ghosts often reveal their personal spiritualities and… Thu, 20 Jan 2022 04:42:32 EST Daniel Wise c465b019-7cf5-4afb-b59f-ab3530c80058 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/12/20/nones-are-alright-end-year-open-letter-pearl-clutching-pundits Are you the kind of person who thinks “more religion” is the answer to all our social ills? Does news about American secularization send you into a sort of frenzied moral panic , in which you feel the need to… Mon, 20 Dec 2021 04:18:45 EST Chrissy Stroop cb9e4c88-5151-416c-be7f-68e50967da5a https://religiondispatches.org/2021/11/05/gen-z-turning-away-religion-order-live-out-their-values Generation Z, or those born roughly between 1995-2010, have come of age during two vastly different presidencies; the legalization of gay marriage; numerous school shootings and the protests that followed; the murder of George Floyd and the rise of Black… Fri, 05 Nov 2021 02:24:24 EDT Josh Packard 33d96fe2-c8bf-4eda-8c99-31799c516eca https://religiondispatches.org/2021/10/22/why-grownups-have-caught-halloween-fever-and-why-its-unlikely-end-anytime-soon It’s spooky season again, the time of year when we’re drawn to horror ; when The Great Pumpkin arrives to teach us how to live with the blockheads ; when the pagan outrage machine is fired up; and when, increasingly… Fri, 22 Oct 2021 04:03:14 EDT Daniel Wise 1784530f-d945-48bf-9841-5bcf23a3f80b https://religiondispatches.org/2021/07/27/gen-zs-religious-affiliation-stats-are-confusing-only-when-viewed-christian-centric Recently, Atlantic writer Derek Thompson tweeted an image of two graphs of religious survey data. The first showed the number of people who say they “believe in God without a doubt,” broken down by generation: Gen Z numbers drop off… Tue, 27 Jul 2021 12:26:01 EDT Brook Wilensky-Lanford 2d4d774a-09f1-40ba-8edb-69f095123b91 https://religiondispatches.org/2021/07/09/armed-new-2020-election-data-what-should-democrats-non-faith-outreach-look After delays in tabulation that resulted from holding an election under pandemic conditions, late last month the Pew Research Center finally published its analysis of the 2020 electorate. And the results, which are derived from validated voters, should—but, if I’m… Fri, 09 Jul 2021 03:03:02 EDT Chrissy Stroop 49ca8614-5306-4f0b-a501-f42d97aa98d9 https://religiondispatches.org/2019/12/10/empty-pews-gives-voice-those-whove-escaped-toxic-christianity We want people who grew up or are growing up in right-wing Christian environments to understand that it’s okay to trust their doubts; and [because] there’s still a pretty strong taboo in the American public sphere against criticizing any large Christian group we hope this book will help [change that]. Tue, 10 Dec 2019 04:03:28 EST Chrissy Stroop, Lauren O'Neal f0f6eb25-7a28-45b0-a6a1-5793baf54ecc https://religiondispatches.org/2019/01/29/decline-religion-decline-generosity Sure, religious households give more money away than unaffiliated households. But do they ever question why poverty and hunger and homelessness continue to soar in this supposedly “rich” country? Tue, 29 Jan 2019 01:54:50 EST Peter Laarman 2da2c086-4166-4bc5-a157-1909f81b1414 https://religiondispatches.org/2018/08/15/dems-need-more-faith-episode-lxxi-beer-caucus-proposal The ‘Dems ignore faith’ narrative ignores the rise of the Nones. It’s as if it were 1954, and liberals were smarting over getting flanked by Ike on the ‘In God We Trust’ issue. Wed, 15 Aug 2018 12:13:33 EDT Daniel Schultz 20685104-b91a-421b-8eaa-85b374849bda https://religiondispatches.org/2018/05/18/alcoholics-anonymous-religion Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was established in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, American men who were significantly influenced by a Christian organization called the Oxford Group. Central to AA are the well-known Twelve Steps, which stress belief in… Fri, 18 May 2018 01:22:46 EDT Galen Watts 8bcd23e1-ab35-4ea9-86c6-8db6834a3de1 https://religiondispatches.org/2018/03/12/forgotten-nones-high-cost-fleeing-fundamentalist-religion According to a recent study, those who have a stable religious or secular identity generally report greater well being; however, those who consider leaving religion but stay, tend to experience poorer mental health over time, compared to those who are… Mon, 12 Mar 2018 03:47:26 EDT Andreea Nica 3503f5b6-a2c1-4dca-a50c-a355bdb1ce4b https://religiondispatches.org/2018/02/20/atheists-color-transcend-opposition-religion-and-white-atheist-privilege-working-social I’m a black atheist who works in urban public schools of color that systematically funnel young people into juvenile jails and prisons. The school district I work in spends more on school police and paramilitary equipment than it does on… Tue, 20 Feb 2018 02:38:59 EST Sikivu Hutchinson 65120337-9163-4411-a860-3acee3542323 https://religiondispatches.org/2018/01/10/christians-color-are-rejecting-colonial-christianity-and-reclaiming-ancestral This is how quickly it happened. One moment we were passing sumptuous kebob platters around the table making polite introductions, and the next we were swapping trauma stories that we—all people of color, many LGBTQ—had experienced in what were essentially… Wed, 10 Jan 2018 05:00:30 EST Deborah Jian Lee b09a0818-4110-4338-9ca1-e948d1de84ef https://religiondispatches.org/2017/12/21/i-always-knew-santa-was-make-believe-retired-pastor-losing-her-faith I always knew Santa was make-believe. My parents taught me Jesus was the reason for the season, God’s free gift to all who believe in him. They never lied to me about anything, including Santa Claus. A few years ago… Thu, 21 Dec 2017 04:11:40 EST Anne Grant bf58d773-d60f-4b89-abbb-ffdd635e0e54 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/08/08/its-complicated-when-none-doesnt-even-begin-cover-it The paradox of post-evangelicals’ relationship to faith Tue, 08 Aug 2017 02:00:00 EDT Tucker FitzGerald 5f79bbb3-86c6-4b0c-8faf-22ac78021066 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/05/03/science-mike-building-christian-science-liturgy-nones “We’re iPhone carrying apes from Mars,” Mike McHargue said to a crowded church auditorium in Denver on a warm September evening. The sweaty crowd laughed, and McHargue smiled from beneath his red beard. In the past two years, McHargue has… Wed, 03 May 2017 03:06:56 EDT D. Ashley Campbell eef6c1dd-fe6d-4464-9715-f51a8ca1c99d https://religiondispatches.org/2017/04/09/can-spiritual-left-make-change-they-wish-see We all know about the grassroots activism of the “religious right” and the role they play in US political life. The promise of a surging “religious left” has recently generated attention, with others arguing that it’s a long anticipated political… Sun, 09 Apr 2017 10:55:43 EDT Arielle Levites 20168c2b-6eeb-4ff5-b668-287e6591cf08 https://religiondispatches.org/2017/01/25/why-pope-popular-among-nones Popularity in public figureheads is fleeting. As the newly-elected president enters office with the lowest approval ratings of an incoming president in 40 years and contentious elections prepare to begin throughout Europe, the question of what popularity means today among… Wed, 25 Jan 2017 01:37:37 EST Kaya Oakes 088d3553-0017-49b4-b31d-027070b067a7 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/10/07/jesus-atheists-and-agnostics-and-nones-and-everyone-else “There is absolutely nothing to stop us ‘seculars’ from following Jesus.” Fri, 07 Oct 2016 01:14:37 EDT Tom Krattenmaker 8ba6e63a-599b-4d8e-9ba4-ffa7bae8f8eb https://religiondispatches.org/2016/09/26/rise-nones-actually-decline-catholics Catholics are suffering the largest decline among major religious groups. Mon, 26 Sep 2016 03:20:20 EDT Patricia Miller 5c6a8040-d14a-4bba-babe-2809c743d014 https://religiondispatches.org/2016/08/12/why-build-mormon-complex-philly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in the midst of a massive building campaign to serve the estimated 14 million Mormons throughout the world. Of the 81 temples currently in the U.S., most are located in the… Fri, 12 Aug 2016 03:12:50 EDT David Krueger da2f55eb-a950-4a1d-b916-5e202c422b43