{"id":148226,"date":"2026-10-22T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T16:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=148226"},"modified":"2026-10-22T18:19:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T22:19:02","slug":"fp-ross-douthat-why-evangelicalism-is-winning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=148226","title":{"rendered":"(FP) Ross Douthat: Why Evangelicalism Is Winning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Of all the predictions Alexis de Tocqueville made while surveying the youthful United States, one of the boldest concerned religion. Notwithstanding Protestantism\u2019s apparent American dominance, the Frenchman prophesied that Roman Catholicism would be the long-term victor in a democratic age. \u201cOur posterity will tend more and more to a single division into two parts,\u201d he wrote in Democracy in America<\/em>, with \u201csome relinquishing Christianity entirely, and others returning to the bosom of the Church of Rome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last few years have given that prediction new life. From the spate of traditionalist-inclined college converts<\/a> to the heretofore secular humanists who have thrilled to Pope Leo XIV\u2019s critique of artificial intelligence<\/a>, it often feels like Catholicism is the strongest religious alternative to post-Christian tribalism, nihilism, and transhumanism. Writing for the Catholic magazine Commonweal<\/em>, Wesleyan University\u2019s Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins, himself a non-Catholic, envisions \u201ca Catholic century<\/a>,\u201d in which the church\u2019s thought becomes a \u201cdefault option\u201d for people seeking the common good amid liberalism\u2019s crisis and AI-driven dehumanization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a Catholic I have a similar reading of the intellectual situation. But it\u2019s also essential to look beyond the intelligentsia to assess the health and future of religion. And in the wider culture, the form of Christianity that\u2019s most adapted to late-modern America is clearly not the Church of Rome. It\u2019s evangelical Protestantism. The vibes of a Catholic moment are real enough, but evangelicalism\u2019s resilience is our era\u2019s more fundamental fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see that resilience across almost every means of measurement: conversion rates, retention rates, identification rates, church attendance, intensity of belief. A recent overview<\/a> from Ryan Burge, the religion data analyst, showed that evangelicals have maintained a roughly steady share of the U.S. population since the 1970s, while both Catholicism and the so-called \u201cmainline\u201d denominations (Congregationalist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and so on) that once dominated American Christianity have seen marked decline. In the 2020s, evangelicals are more than twice as likely to attend church weekly as Catholics. They are also twice as likely to describe religious faith as \u201cvery important\u201d in their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>

For all the buzz around a \u2018Catholic century,\u2019 evangelicalism is the denomination best placed to thrive in contemporary America. https:\/\/t.co\/e3hTYPNEmb<\/p>— The Free Press (@TheFP) October 22, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>\n