In fact, the number of teens who associate themselves with atheism is twice as much as the general population, according to Barna.

The decline in religion among teens is at a staggering 29% among 8th graders, 25% among high school sophomores, and 27% among high school seniors in 2010 — an average of a 12% decrease from 2000.

"My religion and faith is important to me, and it saddens me that people are straying away from the church," said senior Kryztyna Hernandez, who considers herself a devout Catholic.

"I just wish there was something that I can do about it."

On a web-based talk show "Living Waters," Ray Comfort and his colleague recently discussed an email sent to them by a 14-year old freshman named Joe from Portland, Oregon.

Joe says that he is an atheist because he begged and cried for God to give him a sign that [God] was there but received nothing and that he felt free when he left the Mormon church because he was not on a predetermined path anymore.

About 13% of teens identify as atheist, which is double the population of adults who consider themselves atheist.

Others, according to Barna, say that the problem with the drop of religion in teens is the idea of evil and suffering and how it could exist if there is God who does no evil.

Barna also claims that political issues, like LGBTQ rights, poverty and immigration policy may also explain the decrease in religion in teens.

"Growing up in Lebanon in a Muslim family I was always taught that Allah was superior than all but as I grew older and went to college in the States, I realized that He couldn't solve all my problems," said a college student who does not want to be identified out of respect for her family.

"If he was really superior, He would be able to help me whenever I needed Him most and sadly he did not."

There are also growing numbers of agnostics among the general population.

"As time progresses, I seem to find more and more solace in the absence of a god," said Nicole Daniels, a teen from the "Living Waters" talk show who identifies as an agnostic atheist.

Sophomore Ella Altamirano from Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, who is also an agnostic atheist, says that she researched and discussed the topic and believes that it lines up with her beliefs.

In an Australian survey found on Conversation.com, half of the teens say that they do not identify with a religion, but many still find themselves being spiritual in other forms.

The forms of spirituality were then divided into six categories.

These spiritual people consider things like death and reincarnation or even something like a higher being (but not God).

"Everything is just a lot more complicated like ‘I'm religious but I don't got to church' or ‘I pray and am spiritual but I don't believe in a god," said senior Melissa Mancio, who was raised in a Catholic household.

"Religion and your faith isn't black and white anymore; that's why identifying as ‘religious' is complicated."

Teenagers are experiencing a pivotal moment in their lives, with many trying to find themselves. Continue reading

• Image: City Bible Forum

Many of the more progressive nations are not merely overlooking or ignoring their Judeo-Christian heritage, but actively destroying it.

They are making their way through their laws and constitutions, their definitions and traditions, to divest it all of any remnants of the biblical principles and assumptions upon which these nations were built.

There is nothing that is sacred, nothing that can't or won't be touched in this great scouring.

Those of us who live in these nations are having to operate with some new assumptions.

Some of these pertain to the way churches operate

We have always assumed that when we give money to churches and ministries we will receive a tax receipt, but those days may soon be over for organizations that will not bow before one of society's sacred cows.

Some of these pertain to family

We have always assumed that as parents we have the right to educate our children as we see fit, but it's not hard to foresee a future in which that is no longer the case.

Some of these pertain to marriage

We have always assumed that marriage is between one man and one woman, but now marriage has been extended to same-sex couples and many assume polygamous relationships cannot be far behind.

It extends through education, business, politics, and everything else.

Because Judeo-Christian values are so deeply embedded in the warp and woof of our nations, there is really no area that can't or won't be changed.

As so many nations revoke their heritage, Christians will need to learn how to live in a post-Christian world.

We will need to learn to live in a world where the laws inhibit our ability to worship freely rather than assist it, where traditions oppose the Bible instead of complement it, where the assumption is no longer that Christian people and their churches are a help but a hindrance to a thriving, prosperous society.

It may be an intimidating time, but we won't be alone in it.

There will be help for us if some of our brothers and sisters are willing to offer it and if we are willing to receive it.

Though the West is becoming post-Christian, much of the rest of the world is either pre-Christian or a-Christian.

Much of the rest of the world is either just beginning to embed Christian values in their laws or constitutions, or never has. Continue reading

Image: Challies.com

Last week, his administration rescinded former guidelines allowing transgender students to use the public school bathrooms of their choice.

And evangelical leaders report having direct access to the Oval Office. For all his clear foibles, Trump seems to be heeding concerns that drew much white evangelical and Catholic support during the 2016 election.

So it's an interesting time for conservative Christians — traditional Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Protestants — to consider withdrawing from American public life.

And yet in the coming weeks and months, expect to hear a lot about the Benedict Option. It's a provocative vision for Christians outlined in a new book by Rod Dreher, who has explored it for the past decade on his lively American Conservative blog.

To Dreher, Trump's presidency has only given conservative Christians "a bit more time to prepare for the inevitable."

He predicts for traditional Christians loss of jobs, influence, First Amendment protections and goodwill among neighbors and co-workers. Even under Trump, says Dreher, the future is very dark.

The Benedict Option derives its name from a 6th-century monk who left the crumbling Roman Empire to form a separate community of prayer and worship. Benedict of Nursia founded monasteries and a well-known "Rule" to govern Christian life together.

By many accounts, Benedictine monasteries seeded the growth of a new civilization to blossom throughout Western Europe after Rome's fall.

In his book for a mainstream publisher (Penguin's Sentinel), Dreher insists that conservative Christians today should likewise withdraw from the crumbling American empire to preserve the faith, lest it be choked out by secularism, individualism and LGBT activism. Continue reading

• Katelyn Beaty is editor at large at Christianity Today magazine and author of "A Woman's Place: A Christian Vision for Your Calling in the Office, the Home, and the World" (Simon & Schuster).