Hello and welcome to the 530 Politics Podcast.

I'm Gailan Druke.

Before we get going, as you likely know, Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty

on all three charges in the murder trial of George Floyd.

It's been almost a year since George Floyd's death sparked protests around the country,

and on last Thursday's podcast, we discussed how views of police reform and the Black Lives

Matter Movement have changed since then.

If you missed that podcast, I'd encourage you to go check it out.

Today, we're going to talk about religion in America, and what the declining number of

religiously affiliated Americans tells us about our society and politics.

In a recent Gallup survey, the number of Americans who belonged to a church, mosque,

or synagogue became a minority for the first time since tracking began.

Just 20 years ago, 70% of Americans belonged to one of those houses of worship.

Today, it's 47%.

While that does not mean that a majority of Americans are not religious, the number of

religiously-unaffiliated Americans has also been increasing, and now matches the numbers

who are either evangelical or Catholic.

Religion plays an important role in how people view the world, identify politically and

vote.

And so here we need to discuss what these trends mean are senior politics writer Perry

Bacon, Jr.

Hey Perry.

...