In this file photo, a man prays at the Prayer Over the City, an annual event that features members of different faiths offering short prayers of hope and unity for the community in the coming year, St. George, Utah, Jan. 1, 2018 | File photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox speaks to reporters about his concern about people replacing religion with politics during his monthly PBS news conference, Salt Lake City, Nov. 25, 2025.
Volunteers serve meals during Red Rock Canyon School’s Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner, St. George, Utah, Nov. 28, 2024.
Rev. Jimi Kestin, of Solomon’s Porch Foursquare Fellowship, welcomes people to the 19th annual interfaith Prayer Over the City Event held on New Year’s Day at the St. George Tabernacle, St. George, Utah, Jan. 1, 2025.
A Southern Utah voter picks her candidates as she votes in person at the polling center set up at the Dixie Convention Center, St. George, Utah, Nov. 4, 2025.
Senior Reporter
In this file photo, a man prays at the Prayer Over the City, an annual event that features members of different faiths offering short prayers of hope and unity for the community in the coming year, St. George, Utah, Jan. 1, 2018 | File photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox says the state — one of the most religious and charitable in the nation — is not immune to a growing national trend of politics beginning to fill the space once occupied by faith, community and in-person connection.
Speaking during his monthly PBS Utah news conference on Tuesday, Cox said the country is becoming “lonely” and increasingly detached from places that once brought people together across differences.
“People are less religious than they’ve ever been in our country,” he said, adding that despite some early signs of religious revival, many Americans have instead “become addicted to social media, and that’s tearing us apart.”
A recent study from the conservative-leaning Sutherland Institute echoes Cox’s concern, reporting that 77% of religiously unaffiliated Americans initially viewed religion as “part of the problem,” yet 23% shifted toward seeing it as “part of the solution” after learning about religion’s civic contributions, suggesting many Americans are disconnected from but still responsive to the communal role faith once played.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox speaks to reporters about his concern about people replacing religion with politics during his monthly PBS news conference, Salt Lake City, Nov. 25, 2025.
The study focused on so-called “religious nones” — individuals who identify as atheist, agnostic or having no religious affiliation.
Cox said the erosion of shared gathering places, what he described as “those third places that were so important throughout our nation’s history,” has pushed people to seek identity in politics alone.
“Too many people have replaced religion with politics, and politics has become like a religion to them,” he said.
The governor also warned the inverse can be just as corrosive.
“The only thing more dangerous than that is to see politics come into religion, where religion and politics … there’s no respite from politics, and we desperately need those respites,” Cox said.
The Pew Research Center published data in September that ranked Utah the sixth most religious state in the country. Utah was also listed as the second most charitable state in 2025 by WalletHub, a category it frequently leads. Cox pointed to those characteristics as key reasons the state consistently ranks high in quality-of-life measures.
Volunteers serve meals during Red Rock Canyon School’s Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner, St. George, Utah, Nov. 28, 2024.
“It’s why we lead the nation in service. It’s why we lead the nation in charitable giving,” he said.
However, Cox said he was primarily speaking about community and connection and not claiming religious individuals were superior to others.
“I know religion isn’t for everyone, and I’m not saying you’re a good person or a bad person,” he said. “There are bad people who are religious people, and there are really good people who are not religious at all. But religion is a way that brought people together, and if you don’t have that, then you got to find some other way to do it.”
The Sutherland report highlights that many nonreligious Americans feel that absence: 32% of “nones” said “something important is missing” in their lives, and the study notes that religious congregations remain among the strongest generators of social capital — the very connection Cox argues is fading.
Southern Utah pastor says politics increasingly treated as ‘non-negotiable’ belief
The Rev. Jimi Kestin, pastor at Solomon’s Porch Foursquare Fellowship in St. George, said he sees similar behavior emerging, especially among those who have left organized religion. Outside religion, Kestin has been heavily involved in local politics through the Washington County Republican Party for many years.
Kestin said many Americans are “no longer willing to have a conversation with somebody who’s not in their tribe,” and that political views have hardened into something resembling doctrine.
Rev. Jimi Kestin, of Solomon’s Porch Foursquare Fellowship, welcomes people to the 19th annual interfaith Prayer Over the City Event held on New Year’s Day at the St. George Tabernacle, St. George, Utah, Jan. 1, 2025.
“We have a group of people on the political spectrum today who are no longer interested in hearing anybody discuss an opinion that doesn’t line up with their already determined belief system, which is why some politics begins to look like religions,” he said.
He added that secular politics can become a person’s only immovable foundation.
“I think people who don’t have religion need to have some type of a foundation that they build their life on,” Kestin said. “For many, politics has become that.”
While Cox framed social media as a major driver of isolation, Kestin said the issue is more complicated, though he felt online platforms have definitely played a factor in accelerating division.
“I think that it is a little too simplistic to simply blame social media, (but) personal interaction has definitely been affected by it,” he said.
A Southern Utah voter picks her candidates as she votes in person at the polling center set up at the Dixie Convention Center, St. George, Utah, Nov. 4, 2025.
The Sutherland findings claim that nonreligious Americans also participate less in civic life — voting, volunteering and charitable giving at lower rates — reinforcing Kestin’s argument that without shared institutions, many people gravitate to online spaces or political identities as substitutes for community.
Kestin also noted that Utah’s strong religious participation — particularly in Southern Utah — has buffered the state from sharper declines seen elsewhere. Even so, he said, “We certainly see it changing here … there is, by far and away, a far more diverse culture of people living here than even when I got here 20 years ago.”
Governor and pastor urge renewed connection
Cox encouraged Utahns to use the holidays to rebuild in-person ties and step back from partisan fights.
“Try not to talk politics during Thanksgiving,” he said. “I promise you it will make your dinner better for everyone involved.”
Kestin similarly said faith communities must become more intentional about fostering healthier engagement.
“It’s incumbent upon us in the faith community to have these conversations more frequently, because if we don’t start speaking into the culture, we’ll lose the culture,” he said.
Both men noted that Utah’s long-standing emphasis on service, charity, and community connection may provide the tools to counter growing polarization — if residents make use of them.
Senior Reporter
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