Invisible secularity: American theism beyond belief.
It is often asserted that religion is changing rather than declining and that the usual indicators give a misleading impression of growing secularity. The evidence presented here suggests that on the contrary, social measures like affiliation and attendance may understate the weakening of personal r...
| Publicado en: | Social Forces Vol. 104; no. 1; pp. 366 - 386 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Sep2025
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=186811209&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 186811209 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00377732 SFR jtl: Social Forces issn: 00377732 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2025 vid: 104 iid: 1 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 186811209 10.1093/sf/soaf018 ppf: 366 ppct: 20 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 956KB tig: atl: Invisible secularity: American theism beyond belief. aug: au: Voas, David affil: Emeritus Professor of Social Science, Social Research Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom su: Religious institutions Faith Theism Spirituality Proof of God sug: subj: Religious institutions Faith Theism Spirituality Religious Organizations Proof of God keyword: Religion religious belief secularization Religion religious belief secularization ab: It is often asserted that religion is changing rather than declining and that the usual indicators give a misleading impression of growing secularity. The evidence presented here suggests that on the contrary, social measures like affiliation and attendance may understate the weakening of personal religiosity. The apparent persistence of belief in God conceals erosion in its substance, strength, salience, and stability. The levels of religiosity and spirituality among the religiously unaffiliated are declining, notwithstanding the rapid expansion in their numbers. Moreover, belief has not just diminished among Americans who no longer belong to religious organizations: it is fading from one generation to the next among people who continue to belong. Americans are becoming less confident in the existence of God, less persuaded that God is active and judgmental, less inclined to see God as important, and less likely to express consistent conviction. Contrary to claims that apparent secularization masks enduring (if unorthodox) invisible religion, implicit religion, diffused religion, lived religion, and so on, the evidence shows that continuing religious involvement disguises waning religiosity. The research is based on six waves of the Baylor Religion Survey (2005–2021) in conjunction with the General Social Survey (1972–2022). pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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