ryanburge.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

This graph is visually boring, but is completely fascinating to me. It's the share of people who "believe there is life after death." It's actually gone UP, just slightly since 1973. Even as religious attendance and affiliation have dropped exponentially.

submitted 4 hours ago • 3 comments

The state of the modern internet: It used to be the case that one could post a link on Facebook or Twitter to another website and drive some traffic. Those days are OVER. Less than 1% of all my Substack traffic comes from social media. And, no, Bluesky is no better at this for me.

submitted 6 days ago • 2 comments

Laws that would require pornography websites to verify the age of their users are incredibly popular among the general public. 80% of all Americans are in favor. Most supportive: LDS: 92% Evangelicals: 90% Least supportive: Agnostics: 63% Atheists: 53%

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

Republicans are way more 'culturally religious' than Democrats. Among Republicans who never attend religious services: 37% say religion is somewhat or very important. Among Democrats who never attend: 13% say religion is somewhat or very important.

submitted 7 days ago • 2 comments

The non-religious factor that is the most predictive of being atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular? Political ideology. 62% of very liberal people identify as religiously unaffiliated. It's 11% of very conservative people. In 2008, that was 41% vs. 7%.

submitted 8 days ago • 3 comments

Really strong evidence of a religious resurgence in England and Wales from new data from the Bible Society. Among 18-24 year olds, share attending monthly: 2018: 4% 2024: 16% Among 25-34 year olds: 2018: 4% 2024: 13% Overall, attendance went from 8% to 12%.

submitted 8 days ago • 6 comments

Two things can be true at once. 1. Overall levels of religiosity are declining. 2. But religious people are actually more religious now. Look at the top left graph - that's the share of 18-35 years old Christians who attend church weekly. It's up 7 points since 2008.

submitted 9 days ago • 6 comments

47% of the Silent Generation is Protestant. 22% is Catholic. Among Gen Z, 22% are Protestant. 16% are Catholic. Share who are non-religious: Silent: 19% Boomers: 25% (+6) Gen X: 33% (+8) Millennials: 42% (+9) Gen Z: 46% (+4)

submitted 10 days ago • 1 comment

Here's how a bunch of majority white denominations voted in 2024. The only one where a clear majority voted for Harris? The Episcopal Church. At least three quarters of Assemblies of God, Southern Baptists, and non-denominationals supported Trump.

submitted 10 days ago • 5 comments

The most evangelical state in the union? Mississippi: 52% self-ID as evangelical. The least evangelical state in the union? Rhode Island: 7% self-ID as evangelical New Mexico and Iowa are the median at 23.9% evangelical.

submitted 11 days ago • 4 comments

Protestant Christianity dominates the vast majority of the land mass across the United States. Catholicism is the largest in New England, in South Florida, across the Southern border, and up through California. Lots of LDS in Utah and Idaho.

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

Do church going people actually want their church to talk about the political divisions in the United States? Absolutely not. Just 14% of evangelicals want it to be discussed. 18% of mainline Protestants. 27% of Catholics. 29% of Latter-day Saints.

submitted 14 days ago • 2 comments

NEW DATA IS OUT!!!!1!1!!! And guess what? The nones have stopped rising - for real, for real. Non-religious Boomers are down to 2020 levels. Gen X nones are 31%. The same as 2012. Millennial nones haven't budged since 2020. Among Gen Z - certainly no dramatic increase.

submitted 14 days ago • 6 comments

Who is the most likely to be a regular worship attender? It's folks with a graduate degree. But here's an interesting wrinkle - Which racial groups is that the most pronounced? African-Americans. A Black person w/a grad degree is twice as likely to attend weekly.

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

I like this graph because it shows just how unique evangelicals are in American religion. When asked, "how important are your views about religion to your identity and how you think of yourself?" 77% of evangelicals said 'very much' That's TWICE as high as any other group.

submitted 17 days ago • 5 comments

If American religion were 100 people 63 Christians: 23 Evangelicals 19 Catholics 11 Mainline 5 Black Protestants 3 Other Christians 2 LDS 7 Other World Religions: 2 Jews 2 Other 1 Buddhist 1 Hindu 1 Muslim 30 Unaffiliated: 19 Nothing in particular 6 Agnostics 5 Atheists

submitted 19 days ago • 2 comments

Has christian nationalism grown or faded? Baylor first asked a 6 question battery in 2007, then asked the same questions in 2021. The mean CN score was 17.9 in 2007. In 2021, it had dropped to 16.5.

submitted 21 days ago • 3 comments

The regions with the highest concentration of atheists? The Pacific Northwest and New England. Vermont, New Hampshire and Oregon at 9%+ atheist. The fewest atheists can be found (surprise, surprise) in the Bible Belt. Less than 3% in Alabama and Mississippi.

submitted 22 days ago • 9 comments

Guess who attends church the most frequently? Old, educated folks. In this dataset, 37% of retired folks with a grad degree were attending monthly or more. Compare 45-54 years olds: No HS Diploma: 14% Grad Degree: 28%

submitted 22 days ago • 5 comments

The Bible Belt is actually a thing. Along with the "Mormon Belt" - but that's really just Utah and Idaho. Religious attendance is incredibly low in New England - Just 10% of people in Vermont and New Hampshire report attending religious services once a month.

submitted 23 days ago • 8 comments

Educated PARENTS are the most likely to attend religious services. Among 18-45 years old with a four year college degree: 11% of non-parents are weekly attenders. It's 30% of people with children. Parents (regardless of education) are 2x more likely to attend.

submitted 24 days ago • 1 comment

In 2020, here's the # of entries in Google Scholar for these terms: Christian Nationalism: 551 The Nones: 457 Spiritual But Not Religious: 1120 Christofascism: 26 In 2024: Christian Nationalism: 1780 (+223%) The Nones: 487 (+7%) Spiritual But Not Religious: 1170 (+4%) Christofascism: 55 (+112%)

submitted 24 days ago • 1 comment

Share of congregational leaders without a bachelor's degree by tradition: All - 19% Catholic - 1% Mainline - 8% Evangelical - 22% Black Protestant - 32% With an MDiv: All - 48% Catholic - 90% Mainline - 84% Evangelical - 38% Black Protestant - 39%

submitted 26 days ago • 2 comments

Americans are spending more time alone than ever before. "In 2023, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s American Time Use Survey, about a quarter of Americans reported eating all of their meals alone the previous day, an increase of 53 percent since 2003."

submitted 26 days ago • 1 comment

From Dan Cox - more compelling evidence that there's a huge gender gap among young Christians. Abortion should be legal: +13 for women. Gay marriage: +18 for women. Homosexuality should be accepted: +26 for women. Transgender is positive: +25 for women.

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

Here's how much evangelicals views of sex differ from other Christians. 66% of 18-35 year old evangelicals think sex between unmarried teens is always wrong. That's a larger share than mainline Protestants or Catholics of any age.

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

Since 2021, the Cooperative Election Study has expanded its options for the gender question. Now it's Male Female Non-Binary Other Here's the share of each generation who chose the non-binary or other option.

submitted 31 days ago • 1 comment

Can you trust an average person? The strongest predictor of folks saying 'yes' to that question is: Educational attainment. That was true in the 1970s. It's true today. However, notice how much interpersonal trust has dropped across the board in 50 years.

submitted 31 days ago • 2 comments

Among men who were raised evangelical: 71% were still evangelicals as adults. 7% became mainline 17% became non-religious. Among women who were raised evangelical: 75% were still evangelicals as adults. 8% became mainline 9% became non-religious.

submitted 32 days ago • 3 comments