Is the internet responsible for the dramatic drop in religious affiliations in the United States? In a word, yes.

Courtesy of MIT Technology Review:

Back in 1990, about 8 percent of the U.S. population had no religious preference. By 2010, this percentage had more than doubled to 18 percent. That’s a difference of about 25 million people, all of whom have somehow lost their religion. 

That raises an obvious question: how come? Why are Americans losing their faith? 

Today, we get a possible answer thanks to the work of Allen Downey, a computer scientist at the Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts, who has analyzed the data in detail. He says that the demise is the result of several factors but the most controversial of these is the rise of the Internet. He concludes that the increase in Internet use in the last two decades has caused a significant drop in religious affiliation.

Of course there are other factors in the study as well, including fewer parents introducing religion to their children, and a slight increase in college enrollments.

However the correlation between increased internet access and decreased religious affiliation is dramatic and compelling.

When I first started The Immoral Minority it was to provide a space to talk openly about politics and religion, the two things my former wife used to tell me "should not be discussed in polite society."

At the time there only seemed to be a handful of places where religion was discussed with any regularity, but in the almost ten years of this blog's existence that has dramatically increased.

Today you can get into a spirited debate, and access reams of information about religion, mythologies, and the history of various beliefs, on numerous sites, such as the Huffington Post, Reddit, Salon, Daily Beast, you name it.

This allows people, even small towns and isolated areas of the country, to have their eyes opened to things that their parents or the leaders in their communities simply do not want them to know.

Of course I see this as wonderful and it gives me great hope for the future. It is safe to say that others do not see it this way.

In places like Saudi Arabia and Iran they dramatically limit access to the internet in hopes of controlling access to information that would undermine religious faith and promote ideas about equality and human rights.

I would not be at all surprised to see similar attempts to control information in this country, since access to information threatens those who thrive on the ignorance of their parishioners, constituents, or party members.

Personally I would be pleased to think that IM had any impact on a visitor's religious outlook and inspired them to do their own research and question the foundation of their faith.

In my opinion knowing more, thinking more, and discussing more can only lead to greater understanding and a better country.