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Monday, December 26th, 2016

Five Key Findings on Religion in the U.S

Author:     Frank Newport
Source:     The Gallup Organization
Publication Date:     December 23, 2016
 Link: Five Key Findings on Religion in the U.S
Stephan:   In this survey we see the change that is occurring in the U.S. in terms of religion. Although this survey did not poll for this, I think the change is occurring because Christianity has been  captured in the U.S. particularly amongst White people and shaped into something that has almost no tangency with Jesus' teachings. What the Theocratic Rightists have not anticipated accurately however, is that the social gestalt in the main is rejecting their world view. Gender and race issues are seen quite differently by the young who support gender equality, and are tolerant of mixed race relationships, and LGBT life choices; who find Biblical inerrancy and Creationism bizarre. As a result they are falling away from the prejudice and dysfunction that is the hallmark of so much of American "christian" thinking. And this poll also fails to consider what I think is the most interesting trend, the growth of those who define themselves as "spiritual but not religious." So on balance I see this as good news.

PRINCETON, N.J. — Religion remains an integral part of most Americans’ lives, but Gallup’s ongoing research shows how this has changed over time. The following are five important findings about religion in the U.S.:

1. America remains a largely Christian nation, although less so than in the past. Seventy-four percent of Americans identify with a Christian religion, and 5% identify with a non-Christian religion. The rest of the U.S. adult population, about 21%, either say they don’t have a formal religious identity or don’t give a response.

Religious Identification in the U.S.: 2016
%

Protestant/Other Christian
48.9

Catholic
23.0

Mormon
1.8

Jewish
2.1

Muslim
0.8

Other non-Christian religion
2.5

None/Atheist/Agnostic
18.2

No response given
2.6

Based on 173,229 interviews conducted Jan. 2-Dec. 19, 2016

Gallup

The dominance of Christianity in the U.S. is not new, but it has changed over time. The U.S. has seen an increase in those with no formal religious identity (sometimes called “nones”) and a related decrease in those identifying with a Christian religion. Since 2008, when Gallup began tracking religion on its daily survey, the “nones” have increased by six percentage points, while those identifying as Christian have decreased by six points. The 5% who identify with a non-Christian religion has stayed constant.

In the late 1940s and 1950s, when Gallup began regularly measuring religious […]

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