Why Religion Went Obsolete - bookrastinating.com

Narrated by Chris Sorensen

English language

Published Sept. 16, 2025 by Dreamscape Media.

ASIN:: B0FKV6CZF5
Audible ASIN:: B0FKV9S1D2
Goodreads:: 239603401

Traditional religion in the United States has suffered huge losses in recent decades. The number of Americans identifying as "not religious" has increased remarkably. Religious affiliation, service attendance, and belief in God have declined. More and more people claim to be "spiritual but not religious." Religious organizations have been reeling from revelations of sexual and financial scandals and cover-ups. Public trust in "organized religion" has declined significantly. Crucially, these religious losses are concentrated among younger generations. This means that, barring unlikely religious revivals among youth, the losses will continue and accelerate in time, as less-religious younger Americans replace older more-religious ones and increasingly fewer American children are raised by religious parents.

All this is clear. But what is less clear is exactly why this is happening. We know a lot more about the fact that traditional American religion has declined than we do about why this is so.

…

Traditional religion in the United States has suffered huge losses in recent decades. The number of Americans identifying as "not religious" has increased remarkably. Religious affiliation, service attendance, and belief in God have declined. More and more people claim to be "spiritual but not religious." Religious organizations have been reeling from revelations of sexual and financial scandals and cover-ups. Public trust in "organized religion" has declined significantly. Crucially, these religious losses are concentrated among younger generations. This means that, barring unlikely religious revivals among youth, the losses will continue and accelerate in time, as less-religious younger Americans replace older more-religious ones and increasingly fewer American children are raised by religious parents.

All this is clear. But what is less clear is exactly why this is happening. We know a lot more about the fact that traditional American religion has declined than we do about why this is so.

Why Religion Went Obsolete aims to change that. Drawing on survey data and hundreds of interviews, Christian Smith offers a sweeping, multifaceted account of why many Americans have lost faith in traditional religion. An array of large-scale social forces-everything from the end of the Cold War to the rise of the internet to shifting ideas about gender and sexuality-came together to render traditional religion culturally obsolete. For growing numbers of Americans, traditional religion no longer seems useful or relevant. Using quantitative empirical measures of big-picture changes over time as well as exploring the larger cultural environment--the cultural "zeitgeist"--Smith explains why this is the case and what it means for the future. Crucially, he argues, it does not mean a strictly secular future. Rather, Americans' spiritual impulses are being channelled in new and interesting directions.

Why Religion Went Obsolete is a tour de force from one of our leading chroniclers of religion in America.

2 editions

Dan Keck reviewed Why Religion Went Obsolete by Christian Smith

Provocative title, good data

4 stars

The author uses the provocative word "obsolete" to describe traditional religion in the U.S., but starts the book by defining the word in a way the reader might not expect. Then a lot of data is provided, mainly about different generational attitudes on religion and how these have been shaped by culture. Some of the findings surprised me, but that probably says a lot about me and the bubbles I live in. I listened to the audiobook, and the only part that dragged was the beginning of Part Three where the author started naming lists of celebrities and events. It turned into "We Didn't Start the Fire" without a catchy tune. The lists are probably good to include for posterity, but I'd recommend skimming past them for now.

Subjects

Theology, practical
Sociology of religion