www.pewforum.org/…
A poll released by Pew Research today shows Americans who describe themselves as not a member of any religious organization has grown 6% in the last five years and ten percent in the last ten years.
www.msn.com/…
When asked about their religious identity, 29 percent of respondents, or about 3 in 10 U.S. adults, said they had "none," meaning they were atheists, agnostics or "nothing in particular," according to the Pew Research Center survey.
"If the unaffiliated were a religion, they'd be the largest religious group in the United States," Elizabeth Drescher, an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University, told The Associated Press.
While Americans that call themselves Catholic is stable at 21%, Protestant congregations are taking a hit. The number of Americans who consider themselves Christians has decline from 75% of the population to 63% since 2011. Only 40% now call themselves Protestant. Both born-again or evangelical Protestants and mainstream Protestants have seen declines of 6% since 2007.
In addition, the share of U.S. adults who say they pray on a daily basis has been trending downward, as has the share who say religion is “very important” in their lives.
It will be interesting to see what effect the Covid pandemic is having on church attendance, contributions, and ultimately political behaviors.