Report: American Religiosity ‘Growing More Exceptional All the Time’. By Thomas Williams.

Contrary to popular opinion, religiosity is not on the decline in the United States but enjoys “persistent and exceptional intensity,” according to groundbreaking new research.

In an analysis of recent scholarship, Glenn T. Stanton notes that while moderate religion is indeed slipping in the United States, intense religious belief and practice, especially among Christians, is holding strong and even increasing.

A report last month by scholars from Harvard and Indiana Universities suggests that the secularization taking place in many advanced industrialized societies does not in fact hold for American culture, and that religiosity in the United States is growing ever more exceptional in comparison with the rest of the world. …

Strikingly, the team found that “the rise of the unaffiliated is due solely to a dramatic decline of the moderately religious.” Because strong affiliation remains stable while weaker affiliations have declined, “those with a strong affiliation actually make up a larger share of the affiliated population over time,” they wrote. …

Statistics on prayer show that “the United States clearly stands out as exceptional: almost one in three Americans prays multiple times a day, but the average for other countries is only about one in fifteen,” the report revealed. Since 1991, in fact, Americans have become more likely to pray multiple times a day just as people in other countries have become less likely, a trend that separates the U.S. ever further from other developed nations.

hat-tip Charles