The Collapse of Cultural Christianity—And the Rise of Cultural Queerness

How do nations become post-Christian? To quote Ernest Hemingway: Gradually, and then suddenly.

For decades, the United States has been a bastion of religiosity, bucking the trend of secularization, but in recent years, the needle has begun to move. According to a 2019 poll, between 20% and 25% of American adults now identify as ‘nones’ (meaning that they do not identify with any religion), a percentage that is higher among younger adults than older adults and likely indicative of a long-term trend. According to a 2020 Politico/Morning Consult poll, 49% of voting-age Gen Z (those born after 1996) respondents identified as either agnostic or atheist—a sea change in religious identification.

To unpack those numbers a bit further, consider that a 2017 survey found that only 11% of Americans claimed to have read the entire Bible—meaning that a whopping 89% have not. Thus, it is no surprise that even Americans who still identify as Christian are abandoning any semblance of orthodoxy, with 40% of American Christians claiming that the Bible is ‘ambiguous’ on abortion, 34% rejecting the biblical definition of marriage, and another 34% claiming that abortion is morally acceptable.

There are many reasons for the ‘rise of the nones,’ but one is that many who had merely identified as Christian as a nod to their heritage or culture without actually believing any of its tenets are now abandoning the label as it becomes socially inconvenient. Until recently, identifying as some sort of Christian was a net positive; that’s why elites such as Barack Obama did so. But as it becomes a net negative, many are switching their allegiance to the new cultural elites. This is especially true of younger Americans, who have come of age cut off from their civilizational inheritance and deformed by the public education system.

For example, around a quarter of Gen Z identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or ‘genderqueer’—while just a few years ago, less than 3% of the population identified as on the LGBT spectrum. Politico reported in 2020 that “a third of Gen Zers say they know someone who uses gender-neutral pronouns to refer to themselves and nearly 6 in 10 say forms or online profiles should allow more options than ‘man’ or ‘woman’” and that consequently, “religious liberty, particularly as it relates to discrimination against LGBTQ people … does not at all resonate with younger Americans.”

In short, the upcoming generation of Americans increasingly views religious freedom as overt bigotry. Identification with the LGBT movement is undergoing an astronomical rise; identification with Christianity is plummeting.

Indeed, dozens of new sexual and gender identities have recently been invented, allowing straight people to claim LGBT status as well. In 2023, 38% of Brown University’s student population identified as LGBT—with many simply identifying as ‘other’—up from 14% a decade earlier. An overwhelming majority of those identifying as non-heterosexual in name, however, are only interested in relationships with the opposite sex in practice. As gay rights activist Andrew Sullivan observed, most of those claiming to be bisexual were, in fact, only in relationships with the opposite sex. They’d adopted the label, not the lifestyle.

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3 thoughts on “The Collapse of Cultural Christianity—And the Rise of Cultural Queerness

  1. Daniel says:

    I invite you visit my site. If nothing else read from the home page and at the top of the home page read from: God’s Family – God’s Church – Message of the Temple Veil, and the Women at the well – Rebuild Restore Rebuild.

    No man, no government, no religion, philosophy, etc. will stop what is occurring around the world. And that goes for our churches which have based their organizations (denominations) after mans organizations, not Gods Pattern for His Church and Families.

    Man’s churches are failing as we enter the end of days of which we have been forewarned. I started to write a letter years ago to my family which turned into a website. Money has no value there, no trips to Alaska, no books to purchase, no – none of that.

    What is God’s Church? It’s Jesus Christ and Born Again Believers having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit our True Guide, our True Teacher, our True Comforter along with God’s Word and the Testimony of His Creation.
    They are the living breathing Church Of God, adopted Sons and Daughters of God destined to be with Him throughout eternity..

    Start at the home page and the from left to right open the tabs. Be ready to think for yourself, use anything from the site in context and share it far and wide.

    Luke 8:17 (– “For there is nothing hidden that shall not be disclosed, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come out in the open.”

    Best to all and your loved ones in Jesus Christ – Daniel

    /https://www.knowingforyourself.com

    danielrl1934@gmail.com

  2. Marcel says:

    Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3

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