Can We Measure and Predict Religious Change?

 Photo by Nicolai Berntsen on Unsplash Written by Jessie Saeli, edited by Nicole R. Smith and Rachel J. Bacon Introduction The year is 2050. Although millions of Europeans and North Americans have abandoned Christianity and become nonreligious, the share of nonreligious people worldwide has decreased in comparison to increases in Christian, Muslim, and Hindu populations. Worldwide, the percentage of Christians and Muslims […]

Religious Exiting and Social Networks: Computer Simulations of Religious / Secular Pluralism

Research Article Authors: Ryan Cragun, Kevin McCaffree, Ivan Puga-Gonzalez, Wesley Wildman, F. LeRon Shults Abstract Statistical models attempting to predict who will disaffiliate from religions have typically accounted for less than 15% of the variation in religious affiliations, suggesting that we have only a partial understanding of this vital social process. Using agent-based simulations in […]

Post-Supernatural Cultures: There and Back Again

Research Article Authors: Wesley J. Wildman, F. LeRon Shults , Saikou Y. Diallo, Ross Gore, Justin Lane Abstract The abandonment of supernatural religious beliefs and rituals seems to occur quite easily in some contexts, but post-supernaturalist cultures require a specific set of conditions that are difficult to produce and sustain on a large scale and thus are […]