Why So Many Americans Have Stopped Going to Church
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
Church attendance in America has been on the decline in recent decades. Are Americans losing their ability to incorporate religion—or any kind of intentional community—into their lives?
First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic:
- How Bronze Age Pervert charmed the far right
- To get happier, choose to read this column.
- Bird flu has never done this before.
How American Life Works
“Take a drive down Main Street of just about any major city in the country, and—with the housing market ground to a halt—you might pass more than homes,” two sociologists in in January. And the facts bear, notes in , about 40 million Americans have stopped going to church in the past 25 years. “That’s something like 12 percent of the population, and it represents the largest concentrated change in church attendance in American history,” he writes.
You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.
Start your free 30 days