From large to small

The combination of the trauma of losing meaning in our work and the mass marketing efforts to fill that hole with stuff—we saw a dramatic fall in religious institutions starting in the 1960s and ‘70s. With the current trends, Christians could make up less than half of the U.S. population within just a few decades. It’s a dramatic shift from centralized religious institutions to a do-it-yourself spirituality. Many critics at the time blamed the hippies, secularism, as well as, the rise of atheism, and the mysticism surrounding hallucinogens as culprits. But in actuality, surveys show that a belief in God, an afterlife, and prayer increased during that period. Large religious institutions were shrinking not because of the “wickedness” of the world. Worshipers were still as spiritual as ever but sought a place that better fits their belief system. The rise in choice, individualism, and the marketing efforts of smaller churches slowly picked off enough people to make a dent in participation in mainstream institutions.

Slowly, Gurus, Prophets, and Sages grew a platform to have their voices heard. Today, in the social media era, we call them Influencers. As New York Times Columnist Ross Douthat has pointed out, “It was a golden age if you wanted to talk about UFOs or crystals, the Karma Sutra or the I Ching.”