This doesn't really come as a surprise to me, but religion is in the decline here in America. It's been in the decline for the past couple of decades, and looks to continue its downfall in the future. How do I know this? Well a new survey in the U.S. tells us. Conducted by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, the survey questioned 18-25 year olds on whether they believed in a god or higher power. Out of those questioned, 20 percent stated they are atheist, agnostic or nonreligious, which increased from just 11 percent in 1986.

The survey also took a look at several European countries and came up with the same results. Religion continues to drop while humanist beliefs continue to increase. It's safe to say that a majority of religious people are older, while young people titled "Generation Next" are not. These elder religious people will get older and eventually die while younger, non-religious people will grow older and raise families with their non-religious beliefs. Continue this trend, and a majority of America will be non-religious. It's going to happen.

You can read about the survey in its entirety here >> Religious Decline in U.S. Follows Europe. I'd like to express my opinions on some of the points made.

Nearly two-thirds of Nexters (63 percent) believe humans and other living things evolved over time. By contrast, Americans over the age of 40 favor Creationist accounts over evolutionary theory.

Here we see the same trend. All the time people are accepting evolution and its constantly updating, hard-hitting facts. As time goes on, we discover more and more evidence about evolution. These facts and findings are easier for the younger generation to accept and understand. Meanwhile, Americans over 40 who are a lot more religious, are set in their ways and continue to believe what they were originally taught, that creationism is right and evolution is wrong.

Nexters are the most tolerant of any generation on social issues such as immigration, race and homosexuality.

This is fairly obvious and something we see all the time. Most older people are stubborn and set in their ways. In their time religion was the only way, race was a factor in judging someone, and homosexuality was just wrong or unheard of. But times change. People change. One of the greatest things about the human being is its ability to adapt to its new environment. People need to adapt and need to accept change. It's a part of life.

Back on topic, the above quote reins true, and is a good thing. Tolerance is a wonderful thing. So is acceptance. Older people do not like these changes and are afraid, thus they revolt against them. They revolt against the changes in social issues and religion. These changes are good, and will help to build a more tolerant, more acceptant world.

Nexters are among the most likely to say the will of the American people, not the Bible, should be a more important influence on U.S. laws.

Exactly! We need to take our faith and our beliefs out of the clouds and heavens, and put them into something real, something that matters for today and tomorrow. I'm talking about putting your faith in mankind and society. That's what matters. The will of society's people should govern the rules and laws, not religion. Religion was originally put into place to make people obey the rules and laws that leaders wanted for their society. But we don't need religion to help govern us anymore, we have society to do that for us, and people are starting to understand that.

Anyways, my rant is over. Sorry if that got kind of preachy. For more detailed info on this topic check out the full details of the survey here.