"By Pushing Religion into the Public Sphere, the Religious and Political Right Is Unintentionally Pushing Religion out of People’s Private Hearts and Minds"

Rebecca Sager on how the religious right appears to be "winning" with the Hobby Lobby decision, but is actually losing, as increasing numbers of millennials fed up with the gay-bashing and denial of women's rights walk away from the churches when they flex their muscles by beating up on gays and women:

In fact, the evidence pretty clearly shows that rulings like Hobby Lobby, the recent Supreme Court’s decision to allow prayer at public meetings, and the new “religious liberty” laws that actually put more religion into public spaces will actually cause Americans—especially younger Americans—to move even further away from organized religion than they have already. 

By pushing religion into the public sphere, the religious and political right is unintentionally pushing religion out of people’s private hearts and minds, and moving people out of the pews across America. The number of nones (people with no religious preference) is on the rise, with over 20% of all Americans claiming this status,  and many point to the increased politicization of religion as the cause. This trend of legal victories will, in the long run, very likely create a more secular America.

The graphic is from a March 2014 Pew Foundation survey which shows the current generation of Americans aged 18-33 as more religiously unaffiliated with any previous generation since Pew has been collecting data on these matters.