Is this due to God's total inactivity during the pandemic?

[Tcg]

New levels of disbelief:

America's belief in God hits new low

The number of Americans who believe in God has dropped to the lowest level in the 78 years Gallup has asked the question, per a poll out Friday.

Driving the news: 81% of U.S. adults say they believe in God — down 6 points from 2017.

https://www.axios.com/2022/06/17/belief ... allup-poll

Could this be a result of God's total inactivity during the pandemic?


Tcg

[Miles]

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Inactivity before, during, and after the pandemic would be my guess. As the link within your link says:

"New surveys show Americans' membership in communities of worship has declined sharply in recent years, with less than 50% of the country belonging to a church, synagogue or mosque. . . .
The accelerating trend towards a more secular America represents a fundamental change in the national character, one that will have major ramifications for politics and even social cohesion. A Gallup poll released last week found just 47% of Americans reported belonging to a house of worship, down from 50% in 2018 and 70% as recently as 1999. . . .
The percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion rose from 8% between 1998 and 2000 to 21% over the past three years, while the percentage of nones who do not belong to a house of worship has risen as well."
source

As I read it, a rise of 21% in "nones" over just three years is catastrophic. How long until the country is left with no Americans whatsoever who identify with any religion? YIKES!! At worse it could happen within a life time. Not that America would actually be left destitute of believers, but if the trend continues it could be close.

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[Difflugia]

Could this be a result of God's total inactivity during the pandemic?

My guess is that if it has anything to do with the pandemic, it's due to a larger reliance on the internet for information. The internet offers both a broader view of information and a democratization of it. While it doesn't necessarily converge toward truth, in the case of Christianity, I think that more information from more sources makes Christianity appear more preposterous rather than less. The ability for everyone to almost instantly compare notes about their particular stripe of belief or nonbelief makes dogmatic positions, whatever they are, more difficult to hold.

[Tcg]

[Replying to Difflugia in post #3]

That's a very good point. I suppose I should have included the phrase "in part" in my OP question.

I know for myself that the internet certainly played a part in my becoming an atheist. I wouldn't say it caused it but rather hastened it. Becoming an atheist was inevitable given the questions I was asking.


Tcg

[Difflugia]

That's a very good point. I suppose I should have included the phrase "in part" in my OP question.

I know for myself that the internet certainly played a part in my becoming an atheist. I wouldn't say it caused it but rather hastened it. Becoming an atheist was inevitable given the questions I was asking.

I was an atheist before the modern internet was a thing, but the internet is largely responsible for my rekindled interest in the Bible. I'd always kept a bit of an interest since I deconverted in college in the early 90s. I had a few varieties of what passed for Bible software in those days, but it was Google Books that really ramped things up for me. I started downloading 19th century Bible scholarship, printing and binding it myself. Then I got a Kindle.

[Tcg]

[Replying to Difflugia in post #5]

Oddly enough, one of the key realizations that led to my atheism was gained while completing my masters in Christian counseling degree. One of our teachers taught us about the skill and wisdom of Dr. Irvin D. Yalom. I discovered an atheist, who contrary to most theist's views of atheists, was a man who had a purpose in life and helped others find theirs. His understanding of the function of religion helped me to realize that most all religions serve at least in part, amongst many other things, to deny the finality of death. To a large degree, folks don't accept religion because it makes rational sense, but because it brings comfort. This is of course simply a thumbnail sketch of much more detailed realizations that led my on my path.


Tcg