Leaving and Joining Religion

 "Leaving or Believing?" Y Magazine, Winter 2026, pg 34-36

In place of religion Americans increasingly turn to politics for guidance. Where it used to be that Americans interpreted politics through the lens of their religion, today it’s often the inverse. “Many people are willing to change the way they interpret . . . right and wrong based on where their political party is going, even on things that are deeply moral,” says Lambert. 

That transfer of moral authority shows up in the data. “The number one predictor of leaving your faith is your politics—on either of the extremes,” says Dyer. “If their religion and their politics conflict, today [people] are more likely to go with their politics than with their religion.”...

Many of those life benefits kick in, notes Marks, only as practitioners hit a certain threshold: “When we see individuals move to weekly attendance, things change in their lives”—things like overall health, longevity, and levels of social support. Thus more religiousness means better outcomes. ...

One national study noted reasons why people choose to return to a church, many of which were practical, not spiritual, in nature—seeking training for the kids, receiving offered childcare and parenting classes, engaging in discussion groups. However, Marks notes that a review of Latter-day Saint reconversion stories conducted by BYU–Idaho professors Eric F. (BA ’00, MA ’03) and Sarah Hafen d’Evengee (BA ’95), found a common element in nearly every case: “The reason people come back is because of a new or rekindled relationship with God,” he says. “It’s a vertical breakthrough.”...

Interestingly, on their own, old standbys like scripture reading, prayer, and church and temple attendance don’t seem to have much impact on religious retention. Dyer says it’s only when those behaviors lead to regularly feeling God’s love and presence in their life that young people are much more likely to stay. “It’s got to translate into an actual personal experience with the Divine,” he says. “Connection matters.” And so Dyer recommends that parents and leaders work to guide young people from merely going through the motions of these behaviors to having daily, authentic, personal spiritual experiences.