Practice Non-Religion: Non-Religious Generation

Here is an interesting, but overwhelmingly ignored poll conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.  According to this new poll almost 80% of our generation do not actively practice religious observance.  Most still believe in an afterlife (why wouldn't you?  it's a safe assumption), but that doesn't translate into attendance at religious ceremony anymore.

My question is, why was it buried in a corner the Huffington Post?  A dramatic shift like this should be front page news for weeks.  What do we get instead?  Tiger Woods and an angry Orca.  Those are not useful topics of conversation.  sad?  yes.  lessons to be learned?  yes.  useful to the general public?  no.

What this article should spark is a debate on the nature and relevance of religion to public policy and the future of our nation.  I would never deny the fact that our country is overwhelmingly religious (for the moment), and that religion is protected by the constitution (just as we should be protected from it).  However, this poll should suggest that religion as a form of political power is a dying power, and will be irrelevant in the near future.  It should also be a lesson to conservatives who like to hang their hat on the "religious nation" or "Christian nation" mantel.  We may be a religious nation now, but that might change when millennials start to dominate public and private life.

I can only hope that this poll represents a permanent shift that signals the end of religious domination in our lives and our country.  Too many wrong have been committed and too much progress halted because of religious intransigence.  It is up to this non-religious generation, to make sure the future is a little bit brighter for all Americans, not just the faithful.

Common Sense