Religious activities and beliefs have declined rapidly in the modern world. One survey showed that in the United States, 41.8% attended religious services every week. By 2017, that had declined to 29.3%. Some now are saying the United States is now in a post-Christian age.
Phil Zuckerman, the author of Beyond Doubt: The Secularization of Society, writes that “The continued decline of religiosity in the face of modernization is beyond doubt.”
In his book, Zuckerman points out that a World Values survey found that religiosity in the United States has declined dramatically. In 1995, 54.1% of respondents said they attended church weekly or monthly, while 17.5% said they never attended church. By 2017, those numbers had changed markedly, with 9.7% attending church monthly, 29.3% attending weekly, and 33.4% never attending. But at the same time, the percentage of people who believe in a higher power or God remained steady at 70.5%, with 5.6% changing their status from belief in “God” to belief in a “higher power.”
In his book, Zuckerman explains the decline in religiosity and suggests some reasons for the decline. This video introduces his book.
Humankind Needs to Know the Truth of Who We Are in Eternity
With the decline of the belief that religions hold any meaning for people’s lives, humankind needs to the truth about who we are in eternity and our nature as spiritual beings having a physical experience. As religions and religious activities decline, we must provide people with the belief system that will fulfill their need to feel life has meaning. We know the truth of that belief system. We just have to help people hear and understand it.
