Americans are becoming less religious, judging by such markers as church attendance, prayer and belief in God, and the trend is more pronounced among young adults, according to a poll released on Tuesday.
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US adults who continue to identify with a faith group, about 77 percent of all Americans, have largely stayed as religiously engaged as they were seven years ago, according to the Pew Research Center, evidence of a solid core of committed faithful who remain a bulwark against secularization.
The new study may provide a few solace to those who bemoan the much-reported rise in America of the “nones”-people who claim no religious affiliation”.
Pennsylvanians are overwhelmingly Christian, more than half say religion is very important in their lives, and the same amount say they pray daily.
“Respondents who say they meditate regularly may or may not do so in a religious sense”, Pew reported.
They said that as younger adults enter adulthood, they are far less likely to be sure about God.
About 6 in 10 said they attend worship services at least once or twice a month, a rate similar to years before, and almost all said they believed in God, although the study found a slight dip in the percentage who said so with absolute certainty.
The percentage of Christians who say homosexuals should be accepted by society rose from 44% to 54%, and the jump was seen among all denominations recorded, which included Jehovah’s Witnesses, Evangelical Protestants, Black Protestants, Mormons, Orthodox Christians, Mainline Protestants and Catholics.
Among those adults “affiliated” with any of the listed religions – including Christian and Non-Christian affiliations – 40 percent (40%) identified as conservative in 2007, and 42 percent (42%) identify as conservative in 2014, an increase of two percentage points (2%) over the period.
Pew researchers surmised that the overall drop in belief is generational. People with no religious ties are now the largest group of Democratic Party members and those who lean Democratic, comprising 28 percent of the coalition, compared to 19 percent in 2007.
He noted one sign-the proliferation of yoga studios throughout the nation. Most enthusiasts of the meditative practice, which combines breathing and physical postures, are not looking to convert to Hinduism, Walsh said, but they may nevertheless find the activity spiritually gratifying.
“On the contrary, the people in the survey who express the most spirituality are the people who are the most religious in conventional ways”, he said.
Across major faith traditions, the level of commitment varies.
More striking numbers in the study describe changing Christian attitudes toward gay Americans.
Seventy percent of Christians view God as a person, with 22 percent seeing him as an impersonal force and six percent choosing “other”.
“There’s growing support of LGBT people and our families, often not in spite of people’s religions but because the very foundation of their faith encourages love, acceptance and support for their fellow human beings”. In the survey, 83 percent of them said the society should accept gays.
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The percentage of Americans who pray every day, attend religious services regularly and consider religion important in their lives are down by small, but statistically significant measures, the survey found.
