The End of White Christian America by Robert P. Jones, founder of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), is a timely, insightful and important exploration of declining white evangelical and mainstream Protestant influence. Long the most dominant cultural force in the United States, and one that defined the country's identity, it now includes just 32% of the public. Jones argues that the most hotly debated cultural issues in contemporary life, including immigration, same-sex marriage and racism, can be understood only in the context of this powerful demographic shift.
Jones opens each chapter with telling examples, like the transformation of Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral from a humble community church to a sparkling aspirational space, through bankruptcy, to its new incarnation as part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County, offering masses in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. Moreover, Jones analyzes the underlying demographic changes, drawing on four decades of public polling data from the PRRI. He argues persuasively that the religiously unaffiliated add momentum to these shifts, as a growing group that may outnumber all Protestants combined by 2051. Acceptance of gay marriage and rejection of anti-gay Christian rhetoric are leading reasons young people are abandoning traditional religion, and religious affiliation is often connected to how some people define what it means to be American.
Jones writes that the wedge issues in the bitter culture wars of the last decades will fade as white Christian America gives way to newer cultural norms. While this shift is welcome, Jones reminds his readers that any assessment of this waning religious influence should acknowledge its many positive contributions alongside any critique of its excesses. --Jeanette Zwart, freelance writer and reviewer