A few years ago, the folks in our community built another Baptist church. The old one, of course, was torn down. But for a little while the 100+ year old structure’s demise was on display for the whole community to drive by and see.
Today, although the younger crowd is probably more likely to say they do not attend church, Americans are – in large part – still a nation of believers. According to the Pew Research Center (https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/), about 70% of the responses to their polls (which includes 35,000 families) indicate that Christianity is the dominant faith in America: 25% of that 70% is Evangelical Protestant, followed closely (20%) by Catholicism.
Non-Christian Faiths make up almost 6% of American believers; 22% are “not affiliated” (with 3% reporting atheism). The major point here, however, is that 97% believe in something with the vast majority indicating they follow – or at least acknowledge – a major, recognizable religion. I’m not sure that indicates “religious decay” in America.
The photo I took here can have lots of meanings – but the loss of religion in America is not one of them.
The Imagists 