FLORIDA, June 25, 2012 — People are losing their faith, it would seem.
According to new statistics released by Gallup, less Americans than ever before have a great deal of confidence in organized religion. This is not all, though; public sentiment about television news, banks, and public schools has reached rock bottom as well.
It would seem that, across the board, folks just don’t feel the need to believe in social institutions like they once did.
From my perspective, the decline in religiosity is especially telling. When one considers how theistic beliefs are typically passed down from generation to generation, the fact that so many are now opting to break this cycle indicates monumental change.
How will such a thing play out for our society during the years ahead?
In terms of politics, it might result in diminishing returns for the theoconservative movement. This could potentially cause an earth shift in our country’s rightist sphere, and allow for fiscal and national security issues to overtake social ones.
I can only hope.
On a broader scale, however, less religion may cause various charities and social welfare organizations to secularize. It might also spark an interest in non-theistic philosophy, classical and contemporary alike. Perhaps instead of a church on every corner, the future will boast intellectual salons in their place.
That alone might encourage people to seek out clinical therapists rather than pastors for psycho-emotional assistance. Who knows; an outright atheist could even be elected president. Only the calendar’s turning pages can tell about these things.
Any way the situation is viewed, our country is in the midst of a definitive transformation. While religion plays but a single part, its effects cannot be understated.
These are very interesting times, indeed.
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