Is Religion Losing Influence in Public Life?

Everyone has a religion, as everyone has a worldview based on a foundation (presuppositions) that determines how they approach life.

Now let me reiterate something I say over and over again—everyone has a religion, as everyone has a worldview based on a foundation (presuppositions) that determines how they approach life. So usually when people talk about religion’s role, they are referring to Christians, who believe in God or a god, or some religious sect of some sort. But no one is actually without a religion. Having said that, let’s consider the results of this survey.

Now, unlike our usual method of showing the bad news first (Corruption, Catastrophe, and Confusion) and then the good news (Christ, Cross, and Consummation), we’ll reverse that for this survey and start with the “good” news.

• Overall, 57% of U.S. adults believe the influence of religion in society is a good thing.
  

  But even this may not be “good” when considering that Satanism, Wicca, and other counterfeit Christian-like religions are included under this broad umbrella.

• Close to 94% say it is “very” or “somewhat” important to have a president who personally lives a moral and ethical life.
  

  Again though, these are broad terms, and the Pharisees in Jesus’ time would have said the same thing, relying on external appearances only.

• Overall, 49% of US adults said that religion is losing influence and that this is a bad thing.
• Around 48% of US adults said there’s “a great deal” of or “some” conflict between their religious beliefs and mainstream American culture.
  

  In reality, this might be the “best” good news from the survey. Jesus told his disciples, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19). And the Apostle John said, “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you” (1 John 3:13).

But there was much bad news revealed in this survey. Even though at face value it may not seem so.

• Only 28% of US adults say the Bible should have influence over US laws and that it should take priority over the will of the people if the two conflict.
  

  Put another way, man’s word should overrule God’s Word.

• Sadly, 41% say it’s best to avoid discussing religion at all if someone disagrees with you.
  

  I cannot help but think of Peter and John’s response to the Sanhedrin when commanded to not speak of Jesus (Acts 4:18–20) or of the Apostle Paul who described how he persevered in presenting the gospel in the face of adversity (2 Corinthians 11:24–26).

• Only 5% say the best approach when discussing religion is to try to persuade the other person to change their mind.
  

  That means 95% of the populace would heavily disapprove of Peter’s Pentecost speech in Acts 2, Stephen’s speech in Acts 7, and Paul’s Mars Hill defense in Acts 17.

• There is almost no desire for trying to change someone’s mind about religion among any of the religious groups analyzed in the survey, peaking at just 14% among evangelical Protestants.
  

  This is probably the worst of the bad news. The great commission (Matthew 28:19–20) is ignored, Paul’s passionate statement in Romans 1:16 about the gospel is also dismissed, and the thought of the day is the same as the spiritual complacency that Solomon and Agur wrote about (Proverbs 16:2, 21:2, 30:12) and at the period of the Judges: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6).

At first blush, these survey results appear “good” or “encouraging,” but in most cases, they are not. They speak to a society that rejects God but is comfortable with the idols of their own making.

At first blush, these survey results appear “good” or “encouraging,” but in most cases, they are not. They speak to a society that rejects God but is comfortable with the idols of their own making. Those who mentioned that “religion is losing influence and that this is a bad thing,” if speaking about true Christianity, are correct, and Paul (in Romans 1:18–32) described what the outcome would be for those who suppress the knowledge of God. I challenge you to read those verses and compare them to the culture we live in!

Get More Answers on Answers News

This item was discussed Monday on Answers News with cohosts Dr. Georgia Purdom, Dr. Tim Chaffey, and Patricia Engler. Answers News is our weekly news program filmed live before a studio audience here at the Creation Museum, broadcast on our Answers in Genesis YouTube channel, and posted to Answers TV. We also covered the following topics:

• Did evolution slow down for certain fish?
• Does marriage promote white supremacy?
• Are abortion numbers on the rise?
• And more!

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Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.