The clock ticked down in the second quarter of a high school basketball game in Delaware – a middle class, rural area near Columbus, Ohio. The school sits just 29 miles outside of the city’s center, a modest distance but a world of difference. Standing on the bleachers, immediately behind the opposing team’s basket, the hosting school’s 70-80 students in attendance were adorned in pastel Polo shirts, oxfords, short shorts, boat shoes, and backwards caps. Both the young women and men played their parts.
There was a poll administered not too long ago and the result was astounding. Americans have become increasingly non-religious. Until recently, religion was a major line of demarcation for many Americans. Religion influenced one’s culture, social group, and even their politics. In a recent report by The Atlantic‘s Derek Thompson on the matter, he lays out several of the catalysts responsible for the shift away from religion in America. Ironically, he cites politics, an evolving culture, and a sequence of current events as culprits. But in it, he seems to have omitted a factor.
