According to new research from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), around a quarter of Americans say they are part of a different religion or denomination than they were as children. And that number is growing.
The survey of 6,620 U.S. adults conducted August 9-30, 2022 shows that 38% of people who are currently members of non-Christian faiths and 37% of the so-called "nones" have come from a different religious tradition.
Alex McFarland of Truth for a New Generation suggests that many Christians who left the Church got lost while taking a good thing too far.
"Priesthood of the believer has come to mean militant autonomy," he poses. "So while Luther's Reformation in 1517 was needed, we've reformed out way too far."
Many, he says, are losing touch with a transcendent faith.
"I think a lot of people, especially young people, are absolutely influenced away from church based on conventional wisdom, or … urban legends perpetuated by secular media," McFarland laments.
More than half (56%) of those surveyed said they stopped believing in their old religion's teachings. 30% said their former faith's teachings against homosexuality was their reason for leaving.
"All sexual activity that is outside of heterosexual, monogamous marriage -- yes, the Bible condemns," McFarland confirms. "If that's hateful, then so be it."
He says no matter how many people decide to compromise on that, God has not and will not.
