Gallup recently released a new poll:
After doubling last spring and staying elevated in December, the percentage of Americans who believe that religion is increasing its influence on American life has retreated to 16%, in line with pre-pandemic levels.
I suppose a lot of questions could be asked about what this means. Does the big leap in late 2019 and early 2020 reflect the stress of the pandemic? If so, why does it fall off until now it’s back to the old mean?
I’ll be interested in seeing the next couple of data points.
If it stays at the mean, then we can guess there’s not much change in the fundamentals of Americans’ perceptions of the influence of religion on American society.
But if it falls below substantially? That might suggest that the pandemic, after its initial provocation of folks to turn to religion for comfort, began causing religious adherents to realize that religion’s promises were hollow. This graph may reflect a fear that I believe afflicted many clerics: without the in-person meetings, the strengthening of social bonds that are useful for engendering compliance with religious tithing, people lose that urge to attend religious institutions. After all, at least here in the United States, we look for payoffs for what we do, whether it’s using coupons, helping the poor, going to work, or seeking to propitiate the deity of our choice.
If you pray for you and yours to be delivered from Covid, and then Uncle Ray dies of it, miserably alone in a hospital, that may bash a hole in your faith, no matter how much we chant that dismaying phrase, God has a plan….
But that’s all speculation. We shall see. I actually expect it’ll stabilize right where it’s at.
