The backlash against rightwing evangelicals is reshaping American politics and faith | Ruth Braunstein

Some sociologists believe that the rising number of non-religious Americans is a reaction against rightwing evangelicals. But that's just part of the story

What if I were to tell you that the following trends in American religion were all connected: rising numbers of people who are religiously unaffiliated (nones") or identify as spiritual but not religious"; a spike in positive attention to the religious left"; the depoliticization of liberal religion; and the purification and radicalization of the religious right? As a sociologist who has studied American religion and politics for many years, I have often struggled to make sense of these dramatic but seemingly disconnected changes. I now believe they all can all be explained, at least in part, as products of a backlash to the religious right.

Since the religious right rose to national prominence in the 1980s, the movement's insertion of religion in public debate and uncompromising style of public discourse has alienated many non-adherents and members of the larger public. As its critics often note, the movement promotes policies - such as bans on same-sex marriage and abortion - that are viewed by growing numbers of Americans as intolerant and radical.