The Web can make you lose your religion, study says

"Allen Downey, a computer scientist at the Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts, thought he'd see whether religious affiliation was taking a hit from Mammon's constant virtual dissemination.

His study, published in the MIT Technology Review, might send chills down the pocket-linings of more than one tele-evangelist. For the figures show that there is a significant correlation between increased Internet use and a decline in religiosity.

Between 1990 and 2010, 25 million Americans shed their religion. At least officially. Using the University of Chicago's General Social Survey, Downey plotted the rise of the Internet against this fall in holy devotion.

The biggest factor of continued religious affiliation is family. If you are born into a religious family, you are more likely to maintain that commitment.

Downey, though, insists that though fewer people are being born into religious families, he can only attribute 25 percent of the drop in religiosity to this factor.

Greater levels of college education also contribute. However, when Downey examined the figures for Internet use, he found that by 2010, 25 percent of people were online for more than 7 hours every day.

How odd that this 25 percent number mirrors the 25 percent who seem to have shed their beliefs."