(Image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
If you are familiar with the ongoing decline of Christianity, then you will not be shocked to discover that the latest data once again reveals that the decline of organised religious belief continues.
The latest 2022 data drop comes from the Cooperative Election Study. They poll about 50,000+ people both before and after presidential and midterm elections. They do the survey in two parts. In about Sept/Oct respondents answer about two thirds of the questions. Then after the election in Nov they complete the rest. We now have that 2022 data.
Link: You can find the full 2022 data here (published April 8)
- Via their homepage (hosted by Harvard university), you will find links to data from previous years.
Sanity warning, the above is not an easily digestible News clip, but rather is the full complete data, you need an analyst to dig into it.
Analysis via Ryan P. Burge
To help us make sense of this we have specific religious insights from Ryan P. Burge of Eastern Illinois University.
So yes, I’m a fan of his work and often pop his tweets in other postings. He is generally recognised as one of the “leading data analysts on religion and politics” within the United States (that’s a quote via 60 minutes).
This is where some might quip, “Ha, so this is just some atheist professor with an axe to grind about religion“. Actually no, he is also a Baptist Pastor. While he might indeed argue that the non-religious are a growing force within US politics, and also that the term “evangelical” is rapidly evolving into a political term and is no longer a theological term, he does so using statistical data. He does not come at this with any specific religious or non-religious agenda.
OK, that’s all a preamble. Here is a link to his analysis of the new data drop.
One fascinating insight he offers is the revelation that Gen-Z are increasingly becoming a social force …
Generation Z is often seen as those born in 1996 or later. When the oldest members of this generation reached adulthood in 2014 and were included in the CES, they made up just 1.5% of the sample. Now, Generation Z is nearly 15 percent of the sample. The raw number of them surveyed in 2022 was 8,893.
Chart 1 via Ryan – The Nones
Here is the trend for “Nones” with the latest 2022 data now included …
One word – “Wow”.
For those wondering why there are no 2008 or 2012 trend bars for Gen Z, well what can I say except to advise you to think about it really carefully.
You should of course read his more detailed analysis of it all, I don’t need to cut and paste that. The graphic above stands by itself and encapsulates a lot of words, but if you do have the time, then you will discover that his more detailed analysis is insightful.
Chart 2 via Ryan – Complete Religious Breakdown
While the above Chart 1 is just “Nones”, those that identify as either Atheist, Agnostic, or simply Nothing in Particular, the chart below is the 2022 full religious spread for each generation …
Once again, “wow”.
What is obvious is that the younger you are the more probable it is that you will be less religious.
The rather clear implication is that as time passes and the older generations fade away, they will be replaced by an increasingly far less religious younger generation. We are in the midst of a huge on-going religious demographic shift. You might at times feel that religion has the upper hand and is becoming more socially dominant and toxic. In reality, the religious manifestations are perhaps mostly driven by fear, deep insecurity, and the raw terror within fanatical minds when faced with the on-going ascendance of a far less religious society.
The big takeaway is the ongoing ascendence of Gen-Z. To use Ryan’s words …
Just thirty-five percent of them say that they are Protestant or Catholic. Forty-nine percent say that they are atheist, agnostic, or have no religion in particular. It’s clear here that the nones outnumber the Protestants and Catholics and this gap is likely apparent to anyone who has been around young adults in the last few years.
If indeed you are deeply religious, then your deepest darkest fear will indeed by literally incarnated by the rise of Gen-Z as more and more of them become voters.
What Can the Religious Do?
Here are some helpful tips to guide the deeply religious …
- Keep Using Religion as a weapon to harm the most vulnerable people in society. Vigorously promote homophobia and be very vocally anti-Trans. Also make sure you double down on demonising drag-queen story hour because we just can’t have kids hearing stories in libraries (oh the horror).
- Make sure that everybody knows you deeply love Trump as your Lord and Saviour and that you are willing to lay down your life for him.
- Remind everybody that even though there is no actual evidence, you have “faith” that the election was stolen and that you embrace this deep down inside your heart as “truth”.
- Don’t forget to ban lots of books that you do not approve of, especially The Handmaids Tale, and 1984. You should also strive to keep well away from “Woke” Disney.
- Work hard to remove basic reproductive health care and ensure that we get as many godly babies churned out as possible, and make sure you label any who are Pro-Choice as Nazi’s guilty of genocide.
- Advocate for AR-15 gun rights. It is obvious to all that AR-15 gun rights trump any human rights, so promote the “truth” that we need lots more guns. If any elected representatives suggest sensible gun regulations, then please do make sure they get tossed out of their elected seat, especially if they are black.
- Please also, I’m begging you, make sure you oppose science and instead exclusively cite Focus on the Family, Answers In Genesis, and The Institute for Creation Research, as beacons who all have an exclusive monopoly of light and “truth”.
- Oh, and don’t forget to also garish this offering with the “truth” regarding Jewish Space lasers, and Satanic Vaccines that hook victims into 5G and cause them to mysteriously die.
All this, and much more, deeply resonates with Gen-Z. They find it to be truly “inspirational” stuff, so please vigorously promote it all on social media, because we really do need your help to get the message out and tell Gen-Z exactly who you are so that they can be deeply motivated to vote.
By doing this you will indeed be truly doing your country a big favour.