Glass\u2019s case might be a dramatic one, but it illustrates a documented pattern in our society: People find their social and personal lives improved\u2014sometimes their lives are even physically saved\u2014when they go to church often.<\/p>\n
In 2019, Gallup reported that only 36 percent of Americans view organized religion with \u201ca great deal of confidence,\u201d down from 68 percent in 1975. The study\u2019s authors speculate that this trend has been driven in part by the highly publicized moral failures and crimes of religious institutions and leaders.<\/p>\n
The decline in confidence in churches has been accompanied by steep recent declines in both church membership and attendance. Barna Group found that 10 years ago, in 2011, 43 percent of Americans said they went to church every week. By February of 2020, that had dropped 14 percentage points to 29 percent.<\/p>\n
But when Americans describe the reasons they seldom or never attend church, scandals don\u2019t get top billing. Instead, people who think of themselves as Christians are more likely to say that they practice their faith in other ways (44 percent) or that there\u2019s something they don\u2019t like about the service (38 percent).<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Americans' growing disaffection with organized religion could constitute a silent public health crisis: https:\/\/t.co\/3GJjl9FxB6<\/a><\/p>\n — Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) October 19, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n