For decades, far-right White evangelical Christian fundamentalists have feared the United States would, like Western Europe, become increasingly secular — and now, according to Gallup, that has come to pass.

Gallup has been polling Americans on their religious affiliations for 82 years, beginning in 1939. The polling company has been asking, “Do you happen to be a member of a church, synagogue or mosque?” And the answer went from 73% saying “yes” in the early 1940s to only 47% saying “yes” in the early 2020s. It’s a staggering and monumental decline.

Journalist Eric Levitz analyzes this polling in an article published by New York Magazine this week, arguing that it his significant implications for American politics.

Levitz argues, “In assigning culpability for this trend, one could assemble a long list of plausible co-conspirators. The ascendance of the evangelical right likely damaged Christianity’s brand with social liberals by associating the faith with theocratic politics, while pedophilic priests and their enablers surely drove no […]