Shameless self-promotion here because it's my book, but this exact question from a historical perspective is my area of interest....what happened in the early churches as the Roman army became increasingly Christian, and the lessons we might draw from that today:
What is the 18% "Other World Religions"? Online web sites say only .4% of the military is Muslim and .6-.8% are Mormon. About 4% of our military are not U.S. citizens (which is weird) but that's still a far cry from 18%.
I'd also note that the sort of people who sign up to commit to something are the sort of people who sign up to commit to something. As you've noted in previous articles, most of the decline in American religiosity is due to people being "nothing in particular" and zealous atheists remain a small minority. "Active duty military" and "zealous atheist" are such small sets on their own that I'm sure the overlap set would be too small to draw any conclusions; but I would predict that "zealous atheist" might be slightly overrepresented in more recent enlistees, for the reason that both enlisting and being a zealous atheist are about committing to something. For the same reason, I'd predict that converts to religion would be overrepresented among military enlistees. (Although I appreciate that you don't have the data to interrogate that question.)
I'm surprised it hasn't already come up in this discussion or in the comments. I retired from active duty (Army officer) in 2008 after 31 years. There was still a Chaplain Corps, and I believe some were still assigned as staff officers down to the battalion level. In my more junior years, every battalion I was assigned to had a chaplain, usually a Captain. The CONUS hospital where I retired now has a Jewish chaplain, a first in my experience. I'd like to hear Ryan Burge's observations about chaplaincy in the military, and its possible effect on these statistics. Go here for more - https://os56.army.mil/
Born 1956. I was going to mark myself down as "none", but realised my father served in WWII.
That's stereotypically true of the Baby Boomers - the first wave conceived when their fathers were demobilised, and sh. As WWII veterans aged out of having kids, fewer and fewer people have a military connection.
This is something my sister sent me a couple of weeks ago. It shows Marines at Camp Pendleton very engaged in singing an upbeat Christian song. I was a Marine in the 60's and ultimately went to Vietnam. I was at Pendleton. This short video was so foreign to my experience at Pendleton I was startled. And I was a Christian in the 60s when I went to Nam. I only knew one other Christian over there.
This is surprising to me especially since religious practice (like church attendance) is more important than religious identity (Actions speak louder than words). They are different in the area that matters most.
My experience is that military families tend to have military children. But why they would be more religious in practice I am not sure. I don't think it is the element of danger - we do not see higher religious practice among police.
I believe there's also data which shows that middle class people (broadly defined) are more likely to be regular church attendees than working class or poor people.
Shameless self-promotion here because it's my book, but this exact question from a historical perspective is my area of interest....what happened in the early churches as the Roman army became increasingly Christian, and the lessons we might draw from that today:
https://www.amazon.com/Christians-Roman-Army-Lessons-Today/dp/1641734663
I put the wrong link above. Here are the Marines singing at Pendlleton:
https://youtu.be/kQ9AVh4Dzf4?si=kzp7ejVpIjxZFMzH
What is the 18% "Other World Religions"? Online web sites say only .4% of the military is Muslim and .6-.8% are Mormon. About 4% of our military are not U.S. citizens (which is weird) but that's still a far cry from 18%.
In 2010-2012:
4.7% LDS
3.6% Orthodox
4.2% Jewish
1.1% Muslim
1.6% Buddhist
.6% Hindu
In 2022-2024:
2.6% LDS
3.3% Orthodox
2.8% Jewish
4.6% Muslim
1.9% Buddhist
1.8% Hindu
This is one area in which small sample size is tough, though.
For instance, in the 2010 total sample of 55400, there were 326 active duty military folks.
When I combined 2010, 2011, 2012 into one file, I get N = 703. And 40 of them are LDS.
That's out of a total sample of 130K respondents.
Thanks. Wow. The Orthodox Bros will love that over-representation!
I'd also note that the sort of people who sign up to commit to something are the sort of people who sign up to commit to something. As you've noted in previous articles, most of the decline in American religiosity is due to people being "nothing in particular" and zealous atheists remain a small minority. "Active duty military" and "zealous atheist" are such small sets on their own that I'm sure the overlap set would be too small to draw any conclusions; but I would predict that "zealous atheist" might be slightly overrepresented in more recent enlistees, for the reason that both enlisting and being a zealous atheist are about committing to something. For the same reason, I'd predict that converts to religion would be overrepresented among military enlistees. (Although I appreciate that you don't have the data to interrogate that question.)
I'm surprised it hasn't already come up in this discussion or in the comments. I retired from active duty (Army officer) in 2008 after 31 years. There was still a Chaplain Corps, and I believe some were still assigned as staff officers down to the battalion level. In my more junior years, every battalion I was assigned to had a chaplain, usually a Captain. The CONUS hospital where I retired now has a Jewish chaplain, a first in my experience. I'd like to hear Ryan Burge's observations about chaplaincy in the military, and its possible effect on these statistics. Go here for more - https://os56.army.mil/
Born 1956. I was going to mark myself down as "none", but realised my father served in WWII.
That's stereotypically true of the Baby Boomers - the first wave conceived when their fathers were demobilised, and sh. As WWII veterans aged out of having kids, fewer and fewer people have a military connection.
This is something my sister sent me a couple of weeks ago. It shows Marines at Camp Pendleton very engaged in singing an upbeat Christian song. I was a Marine in the 60's and ultimately went to Vietnam. I was at Pendleton. This short video was so foreign to my experience at Pendleton I was startled. And I was a Christian in the 60s when I went to Nam. I only knew one other Christian over there.
https://youtu.be/kQ9AVh4Dzf4?si=sr30c_qHIjTqIDPd
This is surprising to me especially since religious practice (like church attendance) is more important than religious identity (Actions speak louder than words). They are different in the area that matters most.
I thought it might be perhaps because the military recruited more from rural areas but I'm not sure that is true. This web site stated that most are from middle-class homes with above average affluence - not the stereotypical poor. https://www.afba.com/military-life/new-research-debunks-myths-about-who-enlists-and-why/
My experience is that military families tend to have military children. But why they would be more religious in practice I am not sure. I don't think it is the element of danger - we do not see higher religious practice among police.
I believe there's also data which shows that middle class people (broadly defined) are more likely to be regular church attendees than working class or poor people.