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Amanda Furno

Professor Harper
Research Paper Draft Draft
The Evolution of Religion in the ever Changing American Family
In discussions of religious affiliation in America, one controversial issue has been its
current downward spiral. The amount of Americans who are religiously affiliated is declining
dramatically. On one hand, people argue that religious affiliation is affected by changes
involving family demographics and politics. On the other hand, some contend that religious
affiliation is affected by religious congregations ability to abandon tradition and contend with
todays society. Others even maintain that changes in both the American family and religious
congregations have resulted in positive and negative effects on religious affiliation. My own
view is a combination of these arguments. Religion is no longer passed down through
generations and present in the family as it once was due to changes in the traditional American
family, shifts in parenting and society, and the dated views and conduct of religious
congregations.
In the mid-1970s, nearly seventy percent of Americans claimed to have a great deal or
quite a lot of confidence in the church or organized religion. Today, that measurement has
progressively decreased decade by decade to an all-time low of only forty two percent of
Americans who claim to have confidence in religion (America 11). There is no denying that
faith is declining dramatically in America. More and more Americans are choosing not to
practice and value religion and I believe there are significant motives for this shift in American
religion. These motives center on variations in typical family structure, parenting and societal
advancements, and conflicts between biblical and current times.

The average American family is not what it once was decades ago. The modern family
structure faces many demographic changes. The National Center for Health Statistics, U.S.
Federal Statistical System agency that provides health statistical information, provides several
studies on American family structures. Today it is common for Americans to put off marriage and
childbirth due to careers and elongated education. In addition, many women are choosing to have
no children and those who do are having fewer children. In 1960, 40% of women ages 15 to 24
were mothers with infants. In comparison, in 2011 only 22% of women 15 to 24 were mothers
with infants. The marriage rate has fallen more drastically than the fertility rate, arriving at a
historic low. Today, the median age at first marriage is at its highest in modern history, the age of
29 for men and 27 for women. In 2013 26% of people ages 18 to 32 were married, but in 1960,
65% were married. Todays families are more at risk of divorces and remarriages, resulting in
blended constructions of families. Many children in modern society have step parents and step
siblings. Intermarriage among races has also become increasingly popular (National Center for
Health Statistics). Over the last several decades, the American family has structurally changed
substantially.
The demographic changes affecting American family structure have in turn greatly
impacted religious affiliation. Families are no longer structured as they once were, therefore
religion is no longer valued and passed on as it previously was. Due to demographic changes it is
becoming increasingly common for people to have no religious affiliation. In the article Why
More Americans Have No Religious Preference:Politics And Generations authors Hout and
Fischer, extensively recognized sociology professors, state National surveys taken since the
early 1990s show a sharp increase in the percentage of American adults who reported having no
religion. The percentage doubled between 1990-1991 and 1998-2000 (2). The researchers

continue to explain that family life-cycle eventsmarriage, divorce, remarriage, and parenthood
heavily correlate with declined religious preferences (18). The essence of Hout and Fishers
argument is that, in the changed modern family it has become common to have no religious
affiliation and to not regularly practice religion. Consequently, these non-religious Americans do
not practice or pass religion down to their children as once commonly done in typical families
decades ago. Changes in family patterns have resulted in changes in their commitment, need, and
interest in religion. Families have frequently drifted away from religious practice, tradition, and
values due to family pattern modifications. As a result it is more common than ever for modern
family homes to be secular. To summarize, the new American family has undergone
demographic changes that have made nonreligious family life common.
While changed family structure has greatly affected the continuation of religion through
generations, changes in parenting and society have as well. Parenting and society have become
much more accepting and permitting over the decades. In my intergenerational interview my
Aunt Maryann, a devoted Catholic, stressed the importance of religion all throughout her life.
She credited her parents and grandparents for encouraging religious activity on her as a young
child. According to her, parenting was much stricter when she was a child in that parents made
the ultimate decisions and did not give children much freedom to make their own decision.
Therefore beginning at a young age she was expected to attend church regularly and follow
Catholic standards. Penny Edgell, highly published and awarded sociology professor, explains
the typical religious parenting styles several decades ago in her book Religion And Family In A
Changing Society. According to Edgell,
The religious familism of the 1950s was manifest in a dominant family schema
institutionalized in congregational rhetoric and practice. But it also shaped a culturally

dominant male-breadwinner lifestyle and a family-oriented style of religious


involvement. Many men and women thought of religious participation as a natural
expression of a good and stable family life and used congregations as a venue for family
sociability and the moral instruction of children. (150)
In making this comment, Edgell is explaining that parents used to value and practice family
religion due to their belief of its importance in social images and family life. In contrast, parents
today have different societal and family values such as high value of their careers and less value
for their societal religious image. The way modern parents interact, teach, and institute values on
their children has shifted over the decades, creating a different outlook on the importance of
practice and tradition of religion. Today parenting has become more flexible and often
encourages children and parents to make decisions together. This has made it common for young
people to have the freedom to make their own religious decisions and affiliations instead of
having religious beliefs forced on them and religious practices expected of them. Many parents
today acknowledge that young people should not have religion required of them and instead
should be encouraged to form their own religious identities. Overall, modern parents often no
longer impose religious affiliation on their children and instead parent their children in a more
open way in which they allow children to make religious decisions for themselves.
Society in relation to religion has advanced as well, affecting religious affiliation greatly.
Society has become more accepting and adjustable in response to religion. Decades ago religious
affiliation was highly reflective in public image, whereas today public image is based on
character traits such as morality and kindness. Societys views of religion have changed as well.
It was once the societal expectation to be religious one must attend church regularly and actively
practice faith. Society now views religiosity differently, in that it is now accepted that one can be

faithful and spiritual without regularly attending church and instead forming individual rules of
practice. According to Pew Research Center, a demographics and social issues research group, a
total of 54% of parents are involved with an organized religion. Only 27% of these parents attend
religious practice weekly. 31% of the parents do not affiliate with an organized religion but still
consider themselves spiritual (5). These statistics demonstrate that society and parenting have
significantly changed religiously. It has become socially accepted for families and parents to not
regularly attend religious services or to belong to a religious affiliation, but to still be considered
spiritual in their beliefs. Together society and parenting have become accepting and encouraging
of individuals to make many religious decisions for themselves. In conclusion, religious
independence of practice and beliefs is encouraged more frequently by society and parenting,
resulting in allowing Americans and their children to make their own choice of having no
religious affiliation or practice.
Religious congregations have a great influence on the continuation of family religion.
The study conducted by Penny Edgell in Religion And Family In A Changing Society determined
that some religious congregations have undergone changes to keep up with todays society but
several have not abandoned traditional views and values (33). Several Americans are commonly
not drawn to religious congregations and their traditional views and teachings. Many traditional
biblical views clash with modern societal views, causing greater tensions between modern
families and traditional congregations. Many young Americans view traditional religions to be
too political, exclusive, outdated, unconcerned with social justice, and hostile to lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender people. In support, Pew Research Centers study on views of religious
institutions found that in addition to saying that churches and other religious institutions
perform good works, large numbers of the unaffiliated also say religious institutions are too

concerned with money and power, too involved in politics and too focused on rules (10).
Additionally, many families do not have the time to participate in religious congregations
because congregations fail to meet the busy American family schedule. I agree that churches are
constantly forming and reforming, but many still do not meet the needs and views of modern
society and families. These conclusions, which Edgell and the Pew Research Center discus, add
weight to the argument that many congregations have not adapted to the generational
replacement and shift of views. Many of the elder members of congregations have more
traditional and stricter religious views while the younger generations that are replacing the older
generations do not view religion the same way. Several younger Americans are more supportive
of things such as gay marriage and abortion, but many churches have not adapted to meet the
softer views of the younger generations. To summarize, my own view is that numerous younger
Americans prefer to have no religious affiliation and instead to be spiritual without religion and
religious congregations. This allows individuals to form their own beliefs and practices, instead
of following a structured practice and religion they do not agree with.
In their recent work, American Religions and the Family : How Faith Traditions Cope
with Modernization and Democracy, Don Browning and David Clairmont, religion professors
and authors, address religions efforts to deal with religious affiliation. Although I agree with the
authors to a point, I cannot accept the overall conclusion that all American religions at various
times have undertaken self-assessments as new circumstances arose in the form of economic,
political, legal, and cultural changes(4). The respected professors bring about the idea that
American religions have taken measures to address issues concerning religious affiliation. They
believe that American religions such as Catholicism have made efforts to defeat adversity during
times of economic, cultural, and religious teaching challenges. I contend that American religions

have made efforts to protect religious affiliation, but not enough to address the modern changes
in the traditional American family, parenting, and society. In addition, American religions have
not completed the necessary altercations to their dated congregational views, teachings, and
conduct to meet the needs of modern society. For example several religions such as Catholicism
are rotted in strict core beliefs, including not accepting active homosexuality, abortion, and
premarital sex. Several conservative Christian groups do not support homosexuals and their
security from discrimination. In a society that is becoming increasingly liberal, people are
reasserting their religious and sexual values. If American religions altered themselves and arose
from changes in America properly as Browning and Clairmontup argue then religious affiliation
would not be drastically depleting as it currently is.
Religious affiliation in todays American society and family is dramatically changing.
Americans no longer practice and associate with religion the same way they were socially
expected to forty years ago. Although I grant that religion still exists in modern society, I still
maintain that religious affiliation is dwindling and is no longer passed down or present in the
family as it was in previous generations. The reasonings I contend for decreasing religious
affiliation are changes in the traditional American family, shifts in parenting and society, and the
dated views and conduct of religious congregations. The traditional American family is not what
it once was, it is more common for families to have divorced and remarried parents as well as
delayed birth. Parenting and society has transformed as well, parenting is not as strict and society
is more accepting. While the American family, parenting, and society have underwent change,
many religious congregations have not reformed their views and practices to meet these common
nontraditional aspects of American life. My discussion of religious affiliation in America is in
fact addressing the larger matter of modern societys abandonment of traditional values and

customs. Younger American generations no longer cherish and value the same things that our
elders do, and this is going to greatly impact future American generations to come. Older
generations tend to have a prominent value for strong relationships with faith and family.
Regular church attendance was traditionally more common and many customs and activities
were centered on faith. Now days instead of attending church on Sunday mornings several
modern families are attending sports events or sleeping in.
Furthermore, increasing materialistic values are causing modern Americans to lose family
and faith ties. Technological and consumer goods advancements have caused modern society to
become extremely materialistic, veering from traditional values of faith and family. Materialism
is causing modern society to lose sight of important traditional values and lose faith as a whole.
Although religious affiliation may seem to only be of concern to a decreasing group of religious
individuals, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about the future of American society.
While I wholeheartedly support freedom of faith it is important to acknowledge the benefits
religion offers. Religion and religious practice has been found to have positive effects on
reducing suicide, substance abuse, and divorce. Religion has been connected to strengthen
families, assisting through troublesome times, reducing crime, and increasing ethical standards.
This evidence indicates that faith significantly contributes to the quality of American life and
society. Faith has many benefits for individual, families, and society, therefore the loss of faith
and traditional values are influential in increasing societal problems in America In conclusion
modern American society will benefit from reintegrating religious practice into American life
while protecting and respecting the rights of non-practice rather than following the current
downward spiral of faith in America.

Works Cited
"Birth Data." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 29 Sept. 2015. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.
Clairmont, David A., and Don S. Browning. American Religions And The Family : How Faith
Traditions Cope With Modernization And Democracy. New York: Columbia University
Press, 2007. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost).
Edgell, Penny. Religion And Family In A Changing Society. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 2006. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost).
Hout, Michael, and Claude S. Fischer. "Why More Americans Have No Religious Preference:
Politics And Generations." American Sociological Review 67.2 (2002): 165-190.
SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Losing Their Religion." America 213.1 (2015): 11. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Nov.
2015.
"U.S. Public Becoming Less Religious." Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center, 3 Nov.
2015. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.

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