The declining influence of organized religion

The Post:

The percentage of Americans who call themselves Christians has dropped dramatically over the past two decades, and those who do are increasingly identifying themselves without traditional denomination labels

(meme) That plebian newspaper:

When it comes to religion, the USA is now land of the freelancers.

The percentage. of people who call themselves in some way Christian has dropped more than 11% in a generation. The faithful have scattered out of their traditional bases: The Bible Belt is less Baptist. The Rust Belt is less Catholic. And everywhere, more people are exploring spiritual frontiers — or falling off the faith map completely.

So many Americans claim no religion at all (15%, up from 8% in 1990), that this category now outranks every other major U.S. religious group except Catholics and Baptists. In a nation that has long been mostly Christian, "the challenge to Christianity … does not come from other religions but from a rejection of all forms of organized religion," the report concludes.

• Catholic strongholds in New England and the Midwest have faded as immigrants, retirees and young job-seekers have moved to the Sun Belt. While bishops from the Midwest to Massachusetts close down or consolidate historic parishes, those in the South are scrambling to serve increasing numbers of worshipers.

• Baptists, 15.8% of those surveyed, are down from 19.3% in 1990. Mainline Protestant denominations, once socially dominant, have seen sharp declines: The percentage of Methodists, for example, dropped from 8% to 5%.

• The percentage of those who choose a generic label, calling themselves simply Christian, Protestant, non-denominational, evangelical or "born again," was 14.2%, about the same as in 1990.

I applaud the shift. The more independent, localized, and individualized religious practices become, the less harmful they will be. Basically the trend here is the antithesis of an inquisition, with people ever-freer to believe what works best for them.

Most interesting I think is the number of people who claim no religion at all. It's nearly doubled since 1990 -- from 8% to 15%. Cheer up, unhappy atheists!

The trend is promising, though the recession appears to be temporarily reversing it as people search for more non-material sources of happiness and security -- of which the supernatural could be one, if it exists. As one preacher put it:

What Would Jesus Say When the Dow Drops 700 Points?

If you know Christ, your ultimate well-being does not depend on a bailout plan from Congress, a healthy 401K plan, or even money in the bank; it depends on something much more secure than that. It rests on God.

Behold the power of wishful belief!