Last week, he argued that we're seeing another of these bellwethers. Late-night host David Letterman recently announced his retirement and CBS announced his replacement: Stephen Colbert. Deacon Greg Kandra was quick to point out one reason that this was significant, with the headline: “The Catholic takeover of late night TV is complete.” Letterman was the Protestant hold-out in late night. Once Colbert replaces him, networks late night shows will be hosted by Catholics.
This is not necessarily a resurgence of Catholicism, at least in any meaningful sense. Not all of the people we're talking about here are model (or even practicing) Catholics, by any stretch. Rather, we're witnessing the collapse of Protestantism. That's born out by the data, as this 2012 Pew report shows:
In late 2012, Pew reported for the first time that a minority of Americans polled (48%) still considered themselves Protestants. Catholicism is gaining relative to Protestantism simply by holding steady, while Protestant ranks are falling. This is particularly true of liberal and “mainline” Protestantism, which is simply collapsing.
Meanwhile, it's irreligion, not Catholicism, that's on the rise. As the Pew report (and subsequent NY Times coverage) point out, most of these religious unaffiliated people still believe in God. It's not so much God that people have given up on, but religion. Part of this is a trend towards social alienation: one ironic result of technology is that we're lonelier than we used to be, more alienated from our friends and neighbors. The natural social cohesion that holds a congregation together is increasingly lacking. But whatever the cause(s), this is a reality that I think all of us, regardless of religious affiliation, have to take seriously.
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