# The Death of Religion?

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-death-of-religion/
- Published: 2026-11-05T13:18:18+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T14:55:22+00:00
- Original publisher: Reason (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://reason.com/volokh/2026/11/05/the-death-of-religion/
- Topics: Americas, Politics, World

## Key points

- The unaffiliated share of US adults has risen to about 29%.
- The book argues that affiliation and religious belief are not the same.
- Americans have worried about religious disaffiliation for centuries.

## Summary

A new book argues that rising numbers of Americans reporting no religious affiliation do not, by themselves, show that religion is disappearing. Sociologist Byron Johnson and historian Thomas Kidd say surveys can conflate formal membership with belief, and may therefore understate the continuing presence of faith.

Pew data put religiously unaffiliated adults at about 29%, up from 16% in 2007, with higher rates among younger people. The article acknowledges declines in some traditional institutions, including mainline churches, but notes that Americans have debated religious disaffiliation for centuries; people without a definite affiliation were once called “Nothingarians”.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.