Ahead of the Trend — August 2025

Ahead of the Trend Newsletter

Each month, Dr. Ryan Burge, author and political scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, publishes two columns highlighting the latest news in religion research utilizing data from the ARDA. We are excited to share these Ahead of the Trend articles with you.

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Is Divorce the Next Front in the Culture War?

There’s an issue that is starting to creep into the mainstream discourse—divorce. For instance, NPR ran a story last year with the headline, “Conservatives in red states turn their attention to ending no-fault divorce laws.” So, there is certainly some effort among religious and political cultural warriors to rethink how divorces are granted in the United States.

The General Social Survey has been asking a question about divorce since 1974: “Should divorce in this country be easier or more difficult to obtain than it is now?” It’s a perfect window into how Americans have been thinking about the topic over the last several decades and whether those views are shifting.

Higher Education on Trial: Religion, Politics, and Public Doubt

The American Values Survey, fielded in 2023, asked respondents whether college was a good investment today. In the sample of about 2,500 respondents, only 43% of them said that it was. That’s pretty stunning to think about—most Americans did not believe that earning a college degree is worth the time and money involved.

When broken down by religious tradition, there was some significant variation between groups. For instance, only 36% of people who claimed ‘no religion in particular’ saw college as a good choice. Among Christian groups, Catholics were clearly the most supportive of higher education, while the most supportive group overall was a category that included smaller religious traditions such as Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus.

Previous Ahead of the Trend Articles:

Faith Meets the Future: Religion and the Gene Editing Divide The religious response to gene editing is decidedly mixed. In 2021, the Pew Research Center fielded a survey that included questions about gene editing practices and implications. There’s a lot to learn here about what factors shape people’s views of the technique and how much (or how little) religious concerns play a role.

A Pope Who Doubts? The Role of Certainty in the Lives of Catholics The General Social Survey includes a specific question about belief in God. For four types of American Christian groups, the most popular option is that they believe in God without a doubt. Yet only about 55% of American Catholics say that they have a certain belief in God. How do the two factions in Catholicism (the true believers and the doubters) differ on metrics like Mass attendance and political ideology?

The Association of Religion Data Archives | Website