(RNS) — At a moment when technology impacts not only economies and elections but belief itself, Religion News Service convened an all-day symposium to ask: What does faith mean in a digital age – and who holds the power to shape it?
Emceed by Niala Boodhoo and Wajahat Ali, the event drew scholars, clergy, journalists and activists from across the country, exploring the intersection of religion, politics and technology in 2025. Participants wrestled with themes that have long animated spiritual life. They explored what it means to be human. And they reckoned with technological changes that have transformed the way we interact with one another.
“Who holds the power to shape faith?”
Opening the day, RNS CEO & Publisher Deborah Caldwell reminded the audience of RNS’ founding ideal: that understanding one another’s faiths strengthens democracy itself. Today, she said, that ideal faces new tests. “When algorithms determine what people see, hear and trust,” Caldwell asked, “who holds the power to shape faith and civic life?”
The data behind America’s shifting faith
Gregory Smith of Pew Research Center set the stage with new findings from the organization’s Religious Landscape Study. After decades of decline, he said, religious affiliation in the United States has stabilized – but along sharper partisan lines, with religiously affiliated voters concentrating, though still declining, in the Republican Party.
Yet while American Christians are self-sorting by political party, most reject the notion of divine political endorsements: Only 2% to 4% say God directly chose the winners of the last two U.S. presidential elections because God preferred their policies, and 80% say good Christians can have different views about the current president. “The U.S. remain …