When you look at the current trends in the US, things are to changing quickly. With 20% of the population as a whole and 30% of the population under 30 having no religious identification, religion is quickly declining. The backlash we’ve seen over the course of the last few years from conservative Christians, Catholics, and the like reeks of desperation. While they’re still a very large and powerful majority, they know they’re in trouble and they’re scared.

One benefit of the current backlash is that the media is being smart and when the religious get loud they are seeking out atheists to provide some balance more and more often. It’s not just on the national stage with the likes of Dave Silverman and his many Fox News appearances, but even in conservative areas like Idaho. Combine that with the impact we had in the 2012 election and it’s safe to say that we are finally starting to get our place at the table.

At the rate things are changing we can expect the number of “nones”  and outright atheists to continue to grow at increasing rates before eventually slowing. I’m curious about what point that will happen, but since we can’t expect many of the now middle-aged or elderly to change their positions and realistically we will eventually reach a saturation point among the young, it will happen. However, as the older generations fade into the annals of history and are replaced by the children of the growing number of irreligous, within a few generations we can easily expect the US to have a largely post-religious society.

What will be even more interesting will be how religion will adapt. Some may have strong conservative backlashes against the tides of the larger culture, which will just further alienate their youth who have atheist, gay, or otherwise “deviant” friends and family. Others will follow the cultural tides and become more accepting of others and science but without any kind of distinctiveness from secular society they will just become more irrelevant than they already are.

Now is certainly a great time to be a live and the next few decades will certainly be interesting.