Ryan Burge

On January 20, join RNS for a free virtual event with @ryanburge.bsky.social, a social scientist and author of the upcoming book "The Vanishing Church," to discuss what polarization means for faith, community and democracy. Register now! us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

The holidays are a time to come together, but polarization still looms over our country in so many ways. It impacts family gatherings, faith communities, and our democracy. Learn more about the solution at the webinar with @ryanburge.bsky.social, hosted by @rns.org. us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Giveaway! 🚨 Enter for the chance to win a free copy of The Vanishing Church by @ryanburge.bsky.social! www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

"Homosexual couples should the right to marry one another." Share agreeing in 2018, 2021, 2022, 2024 Democrats: 77% -> 79% -> 82% -> 78% Independents: 62% -> 58% -> 66% ->68% Republicans: 58% -> 46% -> 51% -> 46%

Support for legal access to an abortion if a woman wants one for any reason. 2000: Never Church Attenders: 52% Weekly Attenders: 23% 2024: Never Church Attenders: 74% (+22) Weekly Attenders: 33% (+10)

The share of Catholics who attend Mass weekly in 2008 vs 2024, by age. 18-35: +11 36-44: +5 45-54: -5 55-64: -13 65+: -21

You know that narrative that is out there about a religious revival among Gen Z? I get asked about it a lot. This is brand new data from the General Social Survey (released yesterday). Gen Z are the least likely to be weekly attenders. The most likely to be never attenders.

62% of white evangelicals have watched Fox News in the past 24 hours. Just 16% of atheists have watched Fox. Meanwhile, 48% of atheists have watched MSNBC. Just 13% of white evangelicals have watched MSNBC.

The share of Southern Baptists who believe that: "the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word" was 58% in the 1980s. In data collected in 2021 and 2022, it was 75%. An all-time high.

A couple years ago we asked a bunch of evangelicals if they were fine with women serving in various leadership roles in the church. 87% would allow women to teach Sunday School 81% would allow women to preach at a woman's conference. 73% were fine w/them preaching on Sunday.

*whistles to self* Look at all that liberal drift inside the Southern Baptist Convention.....

The majority of United Methodists voted for Trump. So did the majority of Evangelical Lutherans. And Presbyterian Church USA. As far as I can tell, the only majority white "major" Protestant denomination that clearly leans Democratic: The Episcopal Church.

I think we've oversold the whole idea that millennials have left the church in droves. In 2008, 24% of them reported weekly attendance. In 2024, it was 22%. But here's the bigger story: 24% of Gen Z are weekly attenders. Higher than Gen X and Millennials.

The people with the highest self-reported level of happiness? Those who attend religious services weekly. But look at the top row - that's people who attend services in-person weekly. Their level of online attendance has little bearing on their happiness.

Here's a map of a whole bunch of megachurches throughout the United States. In a new paid post today, I do some initial analysis of denominational breakdown, state by state analysis and explore the relationship between population size and number of megachurches.

In Europe, there are some countries with a rate of devout Christians that rival many states. For instance, 39% of Poland is weekly attending Christians. That's similar to Utah and N. Dakota. But a big chunk of Europe is in the single digits. Less than Maine at 10%.

After growing rapidly for 20 years, the number of secular Americans has plateaued. I talked to @ryanburge.bsky.social about that trend & others as eyes turn toward the most high profile religious election in the world. Check it out on GDPolitics.com & wherever you listen to podcasts!

You know what types of Catholics really like Trump? Old ones that attend Mass pretty often. You know which ones don't like Trump that much? Young ones that rarely go to Mass. Shocking, I know. Follow me for me very hot takes with data.

Among white voters. Here's the Democrat's coalition: People who never attend church. Especially those with an associate's degree or more. Here's the Republican coalition: People who attend church once a year or more.

Weekly religious attendance rate: 2008 - 31% 2012 - 29% 2016 - 28% 2020 - 26% 2024 - 25% (down 6 pts since 2008) Never attendance: 2008- 20% 2012 - 24% 2016 - 26% 2020 - 30% 2024 - 34% (up 14 pts since 2008)