Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport examines religion in America today, reviews just how powerfully intertwined religion is with every aspect of American society, and explores what appears to be religion’s vibrant future in the U.S. — all based on more than a million interviews conducted by Gallup since 2008.
Popular books such as The God Delusion have dismissed religion as a delusional artifact of evolution and ancient superstitions. But should millions of Americans’ statements of belief and their behaviour be dismissed that quickly? The pattern of religious influence in American society suggests mass consequence rather than mass delusion. In God Is Alive and Well, Frank Newport provides a new evidence-based analysis of Americans’ religious beliefs and practices — and makes bold predictions about religion’s future in the U.S.
Most Americans are at least marginally religious, significantly more so than in most developed nations around the world. The majority of Americans believe in God and say that religion is important in their daily lives, with many routinely participating in religious rituals.
However, levels of religious consciousness are not distributed equally. Systematic patterns of differences in religion occur with surprising regularity. An American’s religiosity is very much bound up with social position and geographic space. There is an important interplay between religion and life status factors — age, gender, marital status, having children — and with achieved status distinctions — class, education, income.
Unlike citizens of any other country in the world, Americans group themselves into hundreds of distinct micro religious groups and denominations. These groups are constantly evolving, splitting like amoeba to form new groups. The most common pattern today is the development of the “no name” religious group, consisting of Americans who worship only under the banner of their own nondenominational predilections. These religious groupings are sociologically related to social status, geography, politics, and social and political attitudes.
The foundation for God Is Alive and Well, is the perspective of science — analysing what people think, do, and believe about religion. Frank Newport writes in a conversational tone making the book accessible for all, with readers benefiting from his background as a well-known social scientist and authority on American life, and his unique personal history as the son of a Southern Baptist theologian.
