The simple reason why people really change churches, switch faiths, or leave religion altogether

Forty percent of Americans change faiths during their lives. Some changes are relatively minor–moving from a conservative Baptist church to a more liberal Methodist church. Others are more substantial, such as converting from Christianity to Judaism or dropping religion altogether.

Most of like to think of such religious changes as an individual choice. Even if we continue in the faith in which we were raised, we see this as a conscious decision. And the reason we made this choice is, of course, reasonable and thought-out.

Sociologists find such claims to be dubious. Religion may be a choice, but this choice is shaped by forces outside of our control. Without realizing it, our religious choices are constrained by our families, our ethnicities, our neighborhoods, and our occupations.

Darren Sherkat’s Changing Faith deals in-depth with the impact of demographics on our religious choices. He offers a simple but powerful explanation for why Americans change their religious choices. I’ll call it “Sherkat’s First Law of Religious Motion” Read more