Wonder how some of our congregational Rabbis would look at the data. While our Jewish retention is admirably high, at least as identity, our participation within an American Jewish ecosystem has not done as well. We don't become Nones but we change synagogues and we let our memberships lapse right after the consumer elements of a synagogue are no longer needed.
If there is a parallel, and I think there is, it seems to distill to how well people feel they are treated when they are there. For us it's how well do you like the Rabbi, are there cliques that exclude you, or other lapses of bonding social capital. Our transfer point was in the mid-1970s when shunning of interfaith families became part of the policy for our largest Jewish subdivision which shrunk Conservative synagogues and expanded Reform ones.
For the Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, the reckoning may have been initially political. A preacher declaring congregants unworthy because of their personal values puts people on the exit ramps. Churches depend on that type of bonding social capital. Go someplace else? Only if the religion has a form of bridging social capital, which it may not.
Ryan's essay has two forms of people leaving, though. Defectors who express dissatisfaction as the earlier group and consumers who assess the value of their experience, which also falters. My limited Jewish ecosystem may have better default options for the value seekers. We have advocacy groups, Jewish social agencies, and other forums that make no ideological demands of the people who check the box "Just Jewish" when asked their affiliations. The younger folks disaffiliating from their Christian world many not have as many alternate capture options.
My only problem w all these charts is that Mainline and Evangelical are lumped together as Protestants, though they are quite distinct in many ways. I have a feeling that one of the biggest shifts from the last 30 years is from Mainline to Evangelical.
A former colleague of mine who grew up Chicago Irish Catholic when I emailed him a question about Catholic theology he responded that because of all the scandals surrounding the church he himself was "disengaged" from the church. I am not sure he would describe himself as none as much as a disaffected Catholic or perhaps he is on his way to nonehood.
I wonder among nones if there are other things that sort of function like a religion but we dont normally classifiy as religion. The Maga movement for one comes to mind. But one could think of many other examples. Once more than a half century ago I took a college course under the title Race, Class and Power. One of the classes our prof moderated a discussion on is football a religion. Well what are the characteristics of religion: (a) shared set of values; (b) belief in a higher power; (c) following charasmatic leaders; (d) rituals; (e) notions about reward and punishment.
Good observation. I remember from an old sociology class learning about the "functional equivalents of religion," in which the examples given were Marxism and psychotherapy.
Undoubtedly there must be such equivalents among the Nones, as systems of belief seem to be an inherent need in the human psyche.
I think this is an area in which qualitative research could supplement quantitative insights. How do become become nones. Is it a rejection or more of a drifting away. One of the curious things I have observed is a lack of interest in theology and people in the Protestant world easily moving from one denomination to another. Perhaps that expalins the growth of community churches who epmhasize feelings more than theology.
I would have assumed that all "nones" were liberal! Wrong.
Tangentially, you noted that "The Latter-day Saints had the lowest retention of any group—just over half..." And per your your flow chart many become "nones." (A great chart by the way). Thus my comment: I know a fellow who is with Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) and whose mission field is one of the public universities in Utah. He's been in that mission field for about 15 years. I asked him if he had any success with evangelizing Mormon (sorry, LDS) students. He made an interesting comment which might have future application to that flow chart. His experience was that when young people left the LDS church they were not open to any discussions about religion; but, after about fives years of "none-ness" he found such folks became more open to such discussions and new possibilities about faith.
There is perhaps a certain dynamic to even being a None. It will be interesting to see how that chart looks 10 years from now.
Wonder how some of our congregational Rabbis would look at the data. While our Jewish retention is admirably high, at least as identity, our participation within an American Jewish ecosystem has not done as well. We don't become Nones but we change synagogues and we let our memberships lapse right after the consumer elements of a synagogue are no longer needed.
If there is a parallel, and I think there is, it seems to distill to how well people feel they are treated when they are there. For us it's how well do you like the Rabbi, are there cliques that exclude you, or other lapses of bonding social capital. Our transfer point was in the mid-1970s when shunning of interfaith families became part of the policy for our largest Jewish subdivision which shrunk Conservative synagogues and expanded Reform ones.
For the Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, the reckoning may have been initially political. A preacher declaring congregants unworthy because of their personal values puts people on the exit ramps. Churches depend on that type of bonding social capital. Go someplace else? Only if the religion has a form of bridging social capital, which it may not.
Ryan's essay has two forms of people leaving, though. Defectors who express dissatisfaction as the earlier group and consumers who assess the value of their experience, which also falters. My limited Jewish ecosystem may have better default options for the value seekers. We have advocacy groups, Jewish social agencies, and other forums that make no ideological demands of the people who check the box "Just Jewish" when asked their affiliations. The younger folks disaffiliating from their Christian world many not have as many alternate capture options.
My only problem w all these charts is that Mainline and Evangelical are lumped together as Protestants, though they are quite distinct in many ways. I have a feeling that one of the biggest shifts from the last 30 years is from Mainline to Evangelical.
Hooray for divisions by birth decades instead of marketing generations!
A former colleague of mine who grew up Chicago Irish Catholic when I emailed him a question about Catholic theology he responded that because of all the scandals surrounding the church he himself was "disengaged" from the church. I am not sure he would describe himself as none as much as a disaffected Catholic or perhaps he is on his way to nonehood.
I wonder among nones if there are other things that sort of function like a religion but we dont normally classifiy as religion. The Maga movement for one comes to mind. But one could think of many other examples. Once more than a half century ago I took a college course under the title Race, Class and Power. One of the classes our prof moderated a discussion on is football a religion. Well what are the characteristics of religion: (a) shared set of values; (b) belief in a higher power; (c) following charasmatic leaders; (d) rituals; (e) notions about reward and punishment.
Good observation. I remember from an old sociology class learning about the "functional equivalents of religion," in which the examples given were Marxism and psychotherapy.
Undoubtedly there must be such equivalents among the Nones, as systems of belief seem to be an inherent need in the human psyche.
I think this is an area in which qualitative research could supplement quantitative insights. How do become become nones. Is it a rejection or more of a drifting away. One of the curious things I have observed is a lack of interest in theology and people in the Protestant world easily moving from one denomination to another. Perhaps that expalins the growth of community churches who epmhasize feelings more than theology.
I would have assumed that all "nones" were liberal! Wrong.
Tangentially, you noted that "The Latter-day Saints had the lowest retention of any group—just over half..." And per your your flow chart many become "nones." (A great chart by the way). Thus my comment: I know a fellow who is with Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) and whose mission field is one of the public universities in Utah. He's been in that mission field for about 15 years. I asked him if he had any success with evangelizing Mormon (sorry, LDS) students. He made an interesting comment which might have future application to that flow chart. His experience was that when young people left the LDS church they were not open to any discussions about religion; but, after about fives years of "none-ness" he found such folks became more open to such discussions and new possibilities about faith.
There is perhaps a certain dynamic to even being a None. It will be interesting to see how that chart looks 10 years from now.