Full Debate: Does the West Need a Religious Revival?

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Ross Douthat and Ayaan Hirsi Ali face off against Michael Shermer and Adam Carolla in our latest live debate.

For the past 50 years, to be smart and sophisticated also meant being secular. The New Atheists—Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris—dominated intellectual circles, scoffing at faith as an outdated superstition, a social illness to be eradicated. And for a time, they seemed to be winning. In 1972, 90 percent of Americans identified as Christian. By 2022, that number had plummeted to 64 percent, while the religiously unaffiliated surged from 5 percent to 30 percent. The trend was similar across Europe.

But as churches emptied, people began searching for meaning elsewhere—politics, activism, astrology, and therapy started to fill the void God once occupied. And now, after decades of decline, faith is creeping back. A new Pew study suggests Christian identification in America may be ticking upward again.

What’s going on? Could it be that humanity needs religion? Last week, 1,300 people packed into the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, for a Free Press debate on this subject.

The Free Press is honored to have partnered with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression to present this debate. Head to thefire.org to learn more about this indispensable organization.