One of the under-reported phenomena of modern American life is the rapid expansion of secularism.<\/p>\n
Journalists have been captivated by the spectacle of mega-churches and the expansion of conservative Christian political power.<\/p>\n
But demographers and pollsters have long been observing a sharp trend in the opposite direction: more and more Americans say they have “no religion.”<\/p>\n
The latest American Religious Identification Survey shows that the transition to a more “European” secular society continues.<\/p>\n
15% of Americans now say they have no religious faith — that’s a number equal to the percentage of people who say they’re Baptists.<\/p>\n
And while the number of Protestant Christians has been declining sharply in recent decades, the “faithless” group has nearly doubled since 1990.<\/p>\n
We here in the Northeast are leading the transformation. In Vermont, an astonishing 34% of people say they have no significant religion in their lives.<\/p>\n