The Pill and the pew
Sex, not theology, caused the decline of the mainline church.Simply put, conservatives breed more than liberals.
That's the argument of a trio of sociologists who say differences in fertility rates account for 70 percent of the loss of membership in mainline churches during the 20th century.
Their findings question the popular notion that conservative churches are growing because mainline churches are too liberal, suggesting that a simpler cause--the use of birth control--explains most of the mainline decline.
It's work like this that feeds my growing sense that every seminary needs a sociologist of religion on faculty . . . .
.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Friday, October 28, 2005
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