It’s no secret that our modern world is witnessing a mass exodus from organized religion. In the United States, one-fifth of the public — and a third of adults under 30 — are religiously unaffiliated today, the highest percentages ever in Pew Research Center polling. And just 51% of the European Union’s 27 nations said they believed in God when questioned for a 2010 survey.

Why are so many people turning their back on the pulpit? Well, it may be because people think religion actually does more harm than good.

A recent poll conducted by Huffington Post UK found that less than a quarter of Britons believe faith is a force for good, and more than half believe it is actually more harmful than beneficial. Even 20% of British people who described themselves as being “very religious” said religion was harmful to society and that atheists were more likely to be moral individuals than religious people.

It’s hard to understand why someone would call themselves religious if they thought religion was so problematic, but maybe this 20% represents the growing number of religious people who want religion to change. Perhaps these are the people willing to work within the system to make it good.

When I recently spoke with Rabbi Ellen Bernstein, a religious leaders who has been working to better the environment for decades, she mentioned that religious organizations have a hard time reaching people because they are held captive by bureaucracy and old rules. A good example of this is the backlash Pope Francis recently faced from conservative Catholics who didn’t agree with his new policies toward remarriage and divorce. The example is a sad reminder that, even if religious leaders speak out for good, loud voices still make the religious case for ignoring science, discriminating against people, and polluting creation.

Thankfully, the religious voice for good is getting louder too. Huffington Post UK is currently running its Beyond Belief series, highlighting remarkable Britons who have taken on their faith to create a force for change. Examples include an Evangelical rock star who bravely stepped out of the closet and now helps LGBT connect with God and a Muslim who is bridging the communication divide between British Muslims and other faiths.

Because I follow the religious environmental movement so closely, it is hard not to come up with a million examples of religious individuals and organizations doing good things for the environment. I have been so proud to see people of faith stepping up to support climate action, working to “green” their congregations, and lobbying Christian conservative politicians to honor the Christian duty of stewardship.

In fact, just this morning a friend sent me a commercial that aired in 2007 for the group, the Evangelical Climate Initiative, calling on Christians to be better stewards. Religious people doing good for society isn’t a new phenomenon.

I am one of the one-fifth of Americans not currently religiously affiliated. While I’ve always believed in God and the concepts of morality found in religious texts, I’ve spent most of my life afraid to align myself with a group that may not support my beliefs of inclusiveness, female autonomy, social action, and compassion. Because I am a progressive person, I haven’t wanted to be a member of a group that would force me to cling to the past.

But I’ve found, since running EdenKeeper, that I am becoming prouder and more outspoken about my religious beliefs. Christianity, and other organized religions, don’t have a dark cloud of mystery and stigma over them. I’ve seen the good that organized religion can do for the environment and humanity, and I’m more interested in ever in becoming a religiously affiliated person.

This is why it’s so important for religious leaders and groups to continue speaking out about the good they’re doing. People don’t want to hear what you’re against and what you want to stop. People want to hear how you’re going to incorporate your morals and beliefs into positive actions for the good of society — that’s how you can get people back in the pews.

As more religious leaders abandon bureaucracy and old rules it will be interesting to see if the numbers of Americans and Europeans calling themselves religious changes. Perhaps with more good action, the sheep will return back to the flock.

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