Slideshow image

Once you peel back layers from raw statistics, you usually find a more nuanced understanding - and sometimes a wholly different story line.

It is true, when we look at statistics about divorce rates among Christian couples. For years, we believed that Christian couples divorced at a similar rate, if not higher, than non-believers. But, when you peel back the onion and look deeper, couples who attend church regularly are WAAAY less apt to divorce. Not evern close. In other words, committed Christians rarely divorce. 

So it goes with the rise of the "nones." Those are people who claim to have no religious affiliation or belief whatsoever.  My thoughts have always been:

(1) There is no such thing as an honest "none." Those who are honest and think deeply about life and beginnings must conclude that there is, at least, a higher creative power that we just cannot see.

(2) The rise of the nones may not be a significant modern cultural phenomenon. What is unique is that each de-conversion story, the "exvangelical," has a microphone and access to the world. In other words, their singular message of deconversion is blown out of proportion because of their internet popularity. 

Warren Smith reports on a deep dive into the statistics. You can read his conclusions (actually he is reporting on Ryan Danforth's conclusions), click --> here <--

Here is a snippet:

According to Burge, “The data here tells an incredibly simple, yet mythbusting story. The share of nones who grew up in a house where both parents were evangelical was less than 10%. Yeah, it’s really that low.