Americans decreasingly call religion important to their lives and are divided over its role in society
A major new study on religious views in the United States finds – as Americans’ connection to organized religion continues to fade – there are deep divides over the appropriate role for religion in American public life, with sizable shares in favor of a more formalized role.
Less than half of all adults now say religion is very important in their lives, down from majorities who felt that way in earlier studies. Just 44% in the new poll say they pray daily, also down from majorities in prior polls. And while the vast majority continue to say they believe in a God or universal spirit, the share who say they are absolutely certain one exists has dropped from 71% in 2007 to 54% now.
The survey suggests, though, the decline in Christian affiliation and corresponding growth in the share who lack a religious affiliation that had been persistent over the past few decades appears to have plateaued.
A majority of Americans identify as Christian (62%, including 40% who are Protestant, 19% Catholic and 3% with another Christian affiliation), with 29% religiously unaffiliated and 7% saying they belong to religions other than Christianity, such as Judaism (2%), Islam (1%), Buddhism (1%) or Hinduism (1%).
Overall, 51% express mostly positive views of religious institutions across six questions on its role in society, with 21% expressing mixed views and 29% mostly negative.
In 2014, 63% held mostly positive views with 18% negative across the same six questions. Americans are also more apt to say that religion does more good than harm (44%), outpacing the 19% who feel the opposite, but with roughly a third (35%) saying religion does equal amounts of good and harm.
The survey’s findings among younger Americans point to a possible continued decline in religious affiliation and practice, as younger people with religious upbringings appear less likely than older ones to carry those behaviors into adulthood.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/26/us/re...index.html
A major new study on religious views in the United States finds – as Americans’ connection to organized religion continues to fade – there are deep divides over the appropriate role for religion in American public life, with sizable shares in favor of a more formalized role.
Less than half of all adults now say religion is very important in their lives, down from majorities who felt that way in earlier studies. Just 44% in the new poll say they pray daily, also down from majorities in prior polls. And while the vast majority continue to say they believe in a God or universal spirit, the share who say they are absolutely certain one exists has dropped from 71% in 2007 to 54% now.
The survey suggests, though, the decline in Christian affiliation and corresponding growth in the share who lack a religious affiliation that had been persistent over the past few decades appears to have plateaued.
A majority of Americans identify as Christian (62%, including 40% who are Protestant, 19% Catholic and 3% with another Christian affiliation), with 29% religiously unaffiliated and 7% saying they belong to religions other than Christianity, such as Judaism (2%), Islam (1%), Buddhism (1%) or Hinduism (1%).
Overall, 51% express mostly positive views of religious institutions across six questions on its role in society, with 21% expressing mixed views and 29% mostly negative.
In 2014, 63% held mostly positive views with 18% negative across the same six questions. Americans are also more apt to say that religion does more good than harm (44%), outpacing the 19% who feel the opposite, but with roughly a third (35%) saying religion does equal amounts of good and harm.
The survey’s findings among younger Americans point to a possible continued decline in religious affiliation and practice, as younger people with religious upbringings appear less likely than older ones to carry those behaviors into adulthood.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/26/us/re...index.html
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
