American secularism is growing — and growing more complicated

From the unpublished material: January 17, 2022

Americans are getting less “religious,” and do fewer traditionally religious things, such as belonging to a denomination, attending worship services or feeling certain that God exists.

As research in the past couple of decades has reflected those drops in behaviours and beliefs, conventional wisdom has lingered on a superficial understanding of what it really means — for our identities, our yearnings for something “bigger than ourselves” and our ideas about the role of religion in politics.

Now, a new crop of books dives into the many shades of gray in growing secularism and its important ramifications.

Deploying new research and theories, these writers go beyond the top-level data and argue that many Americans are, in fact, a mix. Someone may be devout personally, for instance, but strongly believe in church-state separation and the primacy of science and observable facts. They may be completely non-religious but also agnostic when it comes to the role of religion in public life.

Read more about it: American secularism is growing — and growing more complicated – Its impact on politics and self-identity looms large, experts say

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