A tucked-away gem of Tuesday\u2019s Pew Forum survey on religion is not about the falling numbers of Christians.<\/p>\n
Yes, 1 in 5 people raised in a community of faith now identify as non-religious\u2014the primary talking point from yesterday\u2019s well-publicized report. But what most of this week\u2019s flurry of media coverage missed is an even more pronounced trend in the opposite direction: nearly half of everyone raised with no religion is now part of a faith tradition.<\/p>\n
\n
A total of 9.2 percent of American adults say they were raised in a non-believing home; 4.3 percent of them now identify with some religion.<\/p>\n
Narratives of people who have found God vary. Some claim a spiritual experience, while others say that they reasoned their way to God. . . .<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth is that there\u2019s nothing quite like being part of a religious community,\u201d admits [Professor Phil] Zuckerman, adding that secular groups are \u201coften a lot of sizzle without the steak.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the most usual reason, he says, is pretty simple: \u201cThe vast majority of people who switch religions\u2014it\u2019s because of a girlfriend or boyfriend or husband or wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most often, someone will go through the motions of practicing a religion to appease a spouse\u2019s family. For some, it stops at that, but others discover a deeper meaning through faking it.<\/p>\n
After enough Hail Marys, they find, Zuckerman says, that \u201cJesus is really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s mostly interpersonal relationships that sway beliefs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Christians often worry about their children falling away from the church.\u00a0 Atheists have the same problem.\u00a0 According to the Pew research, half of the children raised by atheists end up as believers. A column on this phenomenon, excerpted and linked after the jump, includes another interesting observation:\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s mostly interpersonal relationships that sway beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,39,42],"tags":[230,2725,1713],"class_list":["post-21375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-religions","category-social-science","tag-atheists","tag-parents","tag-pew-research-center"],"yoast_head":"\n
Half of atheists' children fall away into belief<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Christians often worry about their children falling away from the church.\u00a0 Atheists have the same problem.\u00a0 According to the Pew research, half of the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Half of atheists' children fall away into belief\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christians often worry about their children falling away from the church.\u00a0 Atheists have the same problem.\u00a0 According to the Pew research, half of the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-21T10:00:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-05-21T00:10:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/\",\"name\":\"Half of atheists' children fall away into belief\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-21T10:00:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-21T00:10:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"Christians often worry about their children falling away from the church.\u00a0 Atheists have the same problem.\u00a0 According to the Pew research, half of the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Half of atheists’ children fall away into belief\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Half of atheists' children fall away into belief","description":"Christians often worry about their children falling away from the church.\u00a0 Atheists have the same problem.\u00a0 According to the Pew research, half of the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Half of atheists' children fall away into belief","og_description":"Christians often worry about their children falling away from the church.\u00a0 Atheists have the same problem.\u00a0 According to the Pew research, half of the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/","og_site_name":"Cranach","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","article_published_time":"2015-05-21T10:00:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-05-21T00:10:46+00:00","author":"Gene Veith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gene Veith","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/","name":"Half of atheists' children fall away into belief","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-05-21T10:00:25+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-21T00:10:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1"},"description":"Christians often worry about their children falling away from the church.\u00a0 Atheists have the same problem.\u00a0 According to the Pew research, half of the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2015\/05\/half-of-atheists-children-fall-away-into-belief\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Half of atheists’ children fall away into belief"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/","name":"Cranach","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1","name":"Gene Veith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gene Veith"},"description":"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21375\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}