In 1961, less than one per cent of Canadians identified as having no religion. In 2021, 43 per cent of those between 15 and 35 considered themselves religiously unaffiliated.
Organized religion — and especially Christianity — is in decline. Secularization is advancing apace. Most sociologists of religion agree on this. What they disagree about, however, is why.
In an article published in the journal Sociology of Religion, my co-author, sociology professor Sam Reimer, and I try to provide an answer to this question. We argue that secularization is sensitive to what we call the “religious imaginary” — how religion is viewed in a society.
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