A former US football star turned Pastor has claimed that less than half of Americans are "connected to the house of worship", as he details the decline in religiosity in the US.
Joining Jacob Rees-Mogg on GBN America, Jesse Bradley claimed it is the "first time in history" that the country has seen such a decline in religious followers.
Bradley noted that the decline has become a "trend" in recent decades, particularly "the last couple" of decades and is most common in particular with the "youngest generation" of Americans.
He told GBN America that the "biggest irony" of decline of religiosity is the fact that the US motto is "in God we trust". Bradley stated: "It's on all of our money, and it's been that way since the 1950s, declared by Congress."
When asked by Jacob how the demographic shifts in religious affiliation and political alignment with generation Z and non-religious voters is changing, Bradley said there's "a lot of confusion and a lot of soul searching" amongst the young Americans.
Bradley revealed: "It's really a time of soul searching, the soul of a nation. Which direction are we going to go?"
Bradley explained: "As we approach Easter, you think about the good news or the gospel, and that's the death and resurrection of Jesus. But George Bernard, who does research, extensive research, shows that over half the Americans think you earn your way to heaven.
"And it's really changed in terms of faith, in terms of Scripture, and people are kind of picking and choosing, doing what they want to do."
In praise of God, Bradley said that despite everyone going their own way, God is "faithful and good".
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Bradley told GBN America: "When there's decisions made spiritually, it affects every part of our lives. And that's including home, schools, work, government. And it's a time that we haven't experienced before.
"And yet there's great hope, because what we're seeing, for example digitally, is that people are really searching, they're starving, they're looking for a safe place to explore God, the Bible, and they want to go deep. They want to get honest. They don't just want games or dead religions.
"So we're seeing both at the same time. There were just over 4,000 baptisms in one day in California, we've never seen that before. So a lot of things are shifting in America, there's a lot of searching going on, and yet God is still good all the time."
When asked if the "societal perceptions" of religion in America is what may have led to the decline in religious attendance and religious fervour, Bradley revealed that growing up, he himself didn't believe in God.
Bradley revealed: "I grew up in a family where we were kind of like Baskin-Robbins, 31 flavours spiritually, and I didn't believe in God. I just didn't know, no one told me. I went to an Ivy League college, and on the outside my life looked successful, but on the inside I was empty.
"I just had never read the Bible before - I think there's a lot of people who've grown up completely unaware.
"You might think of America as a Christian nation, and in one sense the predominant faith is Christian here in America.
"Sometimes it's assumed that if you grow up in America, you're a Christian or you believe in God, but a lot of people have just inherited that from their parents.
"They haven't really owned it. And it's really important to see what you believe and why you believe it."
He continued: "That's why I kicked the tires, and I really had dozens of questions before I was going to believe in God. Is the Bible reliable? Is the resurrection of Jesus real? What's the historical evidence?
"And I'll tell you when you get the truth, facts lead to faith. And for a lot of people, they just don't have a place to go to process this."
