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My Daughters, My Illness, and the Men Who Could Be Me
When bestselling author Bruce Feiler was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his leg, he could only imagine all the walks he might not take with his daughters, the ballet recitals he would miss, the art projects left undone, and the aisles he might not walk down. Though his daughters would have plenty of resources in their lives, they wouldn’t have their Dad. He decided to write to six men who had been with him throughout his life- men who could become his voice and his daughters’ Council of Dads. READ MORE
Read Bruce’s cancer diary.
Moses and the American Story
In this groundbreaking book, New York Times bestselling author Bruce Feiler reveals how Moses became America’s true founding father. Traveling through touchstones in American history, Feiler traces the biblical prophet’s influence from the Mayflower through today. Feiler visits the island where the pilgrims spent their first Sabbath, climbs the bell tower where the Liberty Bell was inscribed with a quote from Moses, retraces the Underground Railroad where “Go Down, Moses” was the national anthem of slaves, and dons the robe Charlton Heston wore in The Ten Commandments. READ MORE
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Where Have All the Christians Gone?
Christianity is plummeting in America, while the number of non-believers is skyrocketing.
A shocking new study of Americans’ religious beliefs shows the beginnings of a major realignment in Americans’ relationship with God. The American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) reveals that Protestants now represent half of all Americans, down almost 20 percent in the last twenty years. In the coming months, America will become a minority Protestant nation for the first time since the Pilgrims.
The number of people who claim no religious affiliation, meanwhile, has doubled since 1990 to fifteen percent, its highest point in history. Non-believers now represent the third-highest group of Americans, after Catholics and Baptists.
Other headlines:
- The number of Christians has declined 12% since 1990, and is now 76%, the lowest percentage in American history.
- The growth of non-believers has come largely from men. Twenty percent of men express no religious affiliation; 12% of women.
- Young people are fleeing faith. Nearly a quarter of Americans in their 20’s profess no organized religion.
- But these non-believers are not particularly atheist. That number hasn’t budged and stands at less than 1 percent. (Agnostics are similarly less than 1 percent.) Instead, these individuals have a belief in God but no interest in organized religion, or they believe in a personal God but not in a formal faith tradition.
The implications for American society are profound. Americans’ relationship with God, which drove many of the country’s great transformations from the pilgrims to the founding fathers, the Civil War to the civil rights movement, is still intact. Eighty-two percent of Americans believe in God or a higher power.
But at the same time, the study offers yet another wake-up call for religious institutions.
First, catering to older believers is a recipe for failure; younger Americans are tuning out.
Second, Americans are interested in God, but they don’t think existing institutions are helping them draw closer to God.
Finally, Americans’ interest in religion has not always been stable. It dipped following the Revolution and again following Civil War. In both cases it rebounded because religious institutions adapted and found new ways of relating to everyday Americans.
Today, the rise of disaffection is so powerful that different denominations need to band together to find a shared language of God that can move beyond fading divisions and move toward a partnership of different-but-equal traditions.
Or risk becoming Europe, where religion is fast becoming an afterthought.
Tags: Atheists, Baptists, Bible, Catholics, Christianity, God, Religious Right
You’re comments below are non-sensical or at least misleading:
Christianity is plummeting in America, while the number of non-believers is skyrocketing.
4. But these non-believers are not particularly atheist. That number hasn’t budged and stands at less than 1 percent. (Agnostics are similarly less than 1 percent.) Instead, these individuals have a belief in God but no interest in organized religion, or they believe in a personal God but not in a formal faith tradition.
If you have a belief in God, you are not a non-believer. If you believe in a personal God but not in a formal faith tradition, you are not a non-believer. You are throwing a lot of different fruits in the same basket. What you are seeing is a moving away from traditional church denominations in addition to a substantial growth in non-denominational evangelical Christian churches. This is certainly not shocking to anyone who has been paying attention to the re-alignment of Christians during the last 20 years or so. And, I would certainly classify most non-denominational Christians as Protestants, so your percentages may not be as shocking as you imply. To answer your question, “Where have all the Christians gone?” I would simply say, take a look at the non-denominational churches in your town or city. In fact, stop in and say hi. You might be surprised!