CMV: As the Internet pushes American society further into isolated pockets, people will turn to churches just to feel a sense of community.

Church is one of the last places where anyone can safely feel connected to and dependent upon people who aren’t family without it being “weird.” You no longer have to know your neighbors like you used to in order to survive. Most people don’t live in cute little walkable towns where there events and hobby spaces, and society is atomizing at a rapid pace. Third places for hanging out or meeting new people are becoming rarer; parks and malls just don’t seem as busy anymore.

I’m a professor and students have gone from saying their favorite place to be is the beach/woods/a friend’s house/some cultural place in the nearest big city to saying their favorite place in the world is their bed at home (I don’t blame them, honestly.). They they hardly ever interact with each other and our campus is dead after 3PM, when it used to be busy and fun well into the late evening. Students used to make friends in my classes somewhat regularly, and now they just silently scroll on their phones as much as possible. I know I sound like an old woman yelling at clouds, but it’s true. (I do think that people are starting to see the intrusion of phones especially into everyday life as a public health/policy issue. My state banned phones in schools, and according to my teacher friends, the cafeteria is actually loud and chaotic and fun again.)

This started when I was a teen myself, so I’m already seeing friends in my generation desperate for some kind of human connection once they get older and realize how important it is and that it’s no longer built into their day by going to school. I have friends who have never, ever been interested in religion who go to church just so they can feel like they belong somewhere. I see this happening more and more. Again, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing; really, I’m trying to share my perception about the direction church is going and the kind of function it will serve a few decades from now.

I can’t say if churches will become more secular or Americans will become more religious, but someone is happening.