The Religious Right’s stances drove liberal-minded Americans out of denominations entirely

Evidence

Compounding this time lag is the reality that, since the mid-1990s, those who may have had more liberal views toward sexuality, divorce, and gender have begun to exit various religious traditions. This was largely due to the influence of the Religious Right and its strident views concerning gender, homosexuality, and divorce. Some Americans decided they would rather not affiliate at all, even if their denomination was not necessarily a part of the Religious Right. Therefore, even those remaining in more liberal denominations and who are religiously active tend to be more conservative on gender, sexuality, and divorce relative to those who left. — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 446

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: American religious non-affiliation rose to one fifth, driven by generational replacement — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1166; By 2008 the Religious Right’s old guard appeared to be losing young evangelicals.; Religious Right leaders forfeited their prophetic voice by abandoning social reform. — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the…, 165 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• American religious non-affiliation rose to one fifth, driven by generational replacement #expands (0.75) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1166
• By 2008 the Religious Right’s old guard appeared to be losing young evangelicals. #expands (0.72)