Location & Losing Religion

I came across this awesome video from 2015, a Tedx talk given by David Voas, PhD. It discusses the decline of religion in modernizing countries (although it is referred to as “the West” in the title on YouTube).

Although some research indicates a decrease in share of population for “unaffiliated” religious people, that information might be misleading. That is, specifically Pew Research is looking at births to religious parents and in religious parts of the world. It does not predict religious mobility.

With that caveat out of the way, I’d also like to say that views on religious and non-religious people are changing in the U.S. (citation from Pew). Extremism in the news appears to be an exception to the rule of a more tolerant climate here in the States. This is something I don’t see getting reported much elsewhere.

At any rate, I think it’s interesting that modernity seems to have an effect on religious adherence. Whatever the reason, I think it’s a good thing that people are able to feel more secure in their lives in some parts of the world. Also, I think this stresses the importance of helping people everywhere to live fuller and more enriched lives.