Why Religion Is More Durable Than We Thought In Modern Society
It's commonly accepted that as societies become more modern, religion loses its grip. But recent research suggests it's more complicated than that.
Here is a proposition that may seem self-evident to many people: As societies become more modern, religion loses its grip. Superstition inevitably gives way to rationality. A belief in magic is replaced by a belief in science.
Sociologists call it the "secularization thesis." In 1822, Thomas Jefferson suggested an early version of it, predicting that Unitarianism "will, ere long, be the religion of the majority from north to south."
Some data from modern countries support the thesis. Fifty years ago, . Today, it's only about ten percent. In the United States, just five percent said they were unaffiliated.
