Institutional religion, especially churches, are rapidly declining in America and there is no lack for explanations from all sides -religious and secular explanations.
Yet, any explanation for why religions are declining must also be able to explain why virtually every secular social institution, like the boy scouts, the free masons, and the NAACP, are also declining in membership.
It's not just churches, people just don't know how to be a part of a community anymore.
@Dseitz Sure, ok. But what's your reason for the rapid decline of the Sons of the American Revolution? And the NAACP? And the Presbyterians... And why do you think so few people volunteer for local political campaigns today, or even national campaigns?
Your reason doesn't explain why all of this is happening at the same time... Has has been happening for decades, basically since the 70s. These declines aren't new and certainly weren't caused by Trump. There is a systemic problem.
The NAACP I can't speak to. I'm white. I would ask the Black community.
And my reasoning makes much more sense than some sort of amorphous "malaise." Communities, what they mean, who gets to be a part of them, and where they even exist have changed ENORMOUSLY in the last fifty years. Not a lot of organizations have reflected that, to my mind.
A general-purpose Mastodon server with a 1000 character limit.
@Dseitz I don't follow your argument. (This is not a critique of the argument per se, I just actually don't understand what you mean.)