Farewell to the American Protestant Majority

According to a new study by the Pew Forum, Protestants are, for the first time in history, not a majority in the United States of America. I don't think that's anything for evangelical Protestants, or anyone else, to panic about.

Several years ago, I pointed out here that studies were showing a declining Protestant majority, and projections were being made for this very reality. Now, the surveys says we have a 48 percent plurality of Protestants. I wasn't frantic about that several years ago, and I'm still not.

When working toward our "God and country" badges, my childhood Boy Scout troop was shuttled over to the neighborhood United Methodist church for sessions with the pastor about being good Christians and good citizens. I remember my Southern Baptist sensibilities being shocked when the pastor said, in response to a question, that he didn't believe in angels or demons. The reigning cultural presence of mainline Protestantism served the same purpose as the "God and country" badge. Give us enough Christianity to fight the communists and save the Republic, they said, but let's remember not to take it all too seriously.

That culture is over. Read more