I do think religion is weakening a little bit. It's not necessarily dying out but I know that among my generation there is less of us that are tied to an organized belief system. I have plenty of friends that promote themselves as religious but do not attend Church, temple or anything.

Interesting because someone just did a poll here & it seems that most of us on Agnostic are on the old side.

One institution that does seem to be dying are the Catholic nuns. When I had to go to Catholic school in the 70s, all but 2 or 3 teachers were nuns. My friends sent their son to Catholic school several years ago & there were no nuns teaching at all. My friends were even surprised that I asked. Same with my nieces back in the late 90s. No nuns at all.

I am not sure about the underlying dynamics, but it's important to note that some groups are not dying simply because they are graying. Some of them are acquired tastes that more mature people are simply drawn to. A sea of "hoary heads" is not a problem so long as new ones are "aging in" at the same rate that the oldest ones are dying out.

I used to be into theater pipe organs and people have been worrying literally since the 1950s that there "aren't enough young people" in that group but the numbers and active participation have held steady and even grown a bit over the ensuing three generations. It's older people who tend to have the money and free time to devote to such hobbies. Similar things can be said about people who own sailboats or big houses, etc.

That said, the absence of young people suggests that the multigenerational reinforcement that churches used to benefit from has diminished, and that also hollows out the sense of community and refuge that churches are supposed to provide. I get the sense churches aren't nearly so much in demand to celebrate the births of infants or are even to solemnize new marriages (to the extent that people still get officially married); they are mostly presiding over funerals. So while the absence of the young isn't necessarily a decisive death blow, it's not good news, either.

The numbers:

[bigthink.com]

It's even more obvious in France. A friend of mine told me that if you go into a church for any service, there won't be anyone under 70. He also told me that French Catholics are in a church about 4 times in their life: baptism, confirmation, wedding, and funeral. I guess they attend the weddings and funerals of others over the years.

I’m so excited for this!!!
I have dreamed forever about owning a church and making it my house!
Can’t wait!!!

Yes it is. People are starting to wise up to the truth of religion.