It seems that the religious organizations are losing their influence. From what everyone shared in class, people are moving away from the rigidness of organized religion and moving towards a more personalized worship. Majority of people who grew up in a religious family and moved away from the organization still consider themselves a spiritual person. Others have never been involved with organized religion but still feel that there is something bigger then themselves. However, they do not feel that they need to show their devotion by going to a church or mosque. Religion is becoming individualized, meaning that less people are going to church and more people are finding other ways to connect to their higher being that works for them. I believe this is due to people don’t want another person telling them how they can communicate with their God. I also believe that religion has gotten a bad reputation in the past few years due to how some people use it as ammunition to push their beliefs onto others and into our government. Some people don’t want to call themselves religious because of the stereotypes that come with that so they have started to call themselves spiritual. According to McGuire, religion itself is not fading away, but the need for established religious institutions are. People are finding the community they found in the church elsewhere. People are having deep religious experiences without having to go to a church. Organized religion is losing popularity as people realize that faith is inside of themselves, not within the churches walls.