Pew Research Center’s 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study was conducted among a nationally representative sample of 35,071 adults interviewed by telephone, on both cellphones and landlines, from June 4-Sept.
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A small but growing number of Americans, particularly among the millennial generation, are shunning church and organized religion for spiritual peace and well-being, a new study found.
Religious people still represent the majority of Americans, but the gap between them and the religiously unaffiliated is widening. The share of USA adults who are “absolutely certain” God exists has dropped from 71 percent in 2007 to 63 percent in 2014. Researchers point out that the percentage of Americans who believe in God is much higher than other modern industrial countries.
Among those who took the survey, 27 percent of millennials said they attend religious services on a weekly basis, compared with 51 percent of adults from the silent generation.
In addition to the generational divide, there were also marked religious differences among the political parties. Researchers attribute the change to so-called “nones”, young adults without religious affiliation. A growing share of the “religiously affiliated” say they regularly read scripture, participate in prayer groups, and share their faith with others.
The study also suggests that in a few ways Americans are becoming more spiritual.
Among the religiously affiliated adults, 97% believe in God and among religiously unaffiliated, only 61% believe in God.
The survey has had its limitations in gauging the religiosity of believers in minority faiths, such as Buddhism and Hinduism.
Overall, 54 percent of all self-described Christians said homosexuality should be accepted by society – up from 44 percent in 2007. Although religious Americans still make up almost three-quarters of Democrats and “Democratic-leaning” adults, there are now more “nones” in the group than Catholics, mainline Protestants, evangelical Protestants, or members of the historically black Protestant tradition.
During the period, adults who are religiously affiliated have been decreased to 77% from 83% and the share of unaffiliated people rose to 23% from 16%.
The same dynamic helps explain the declines in traditional measures of religious belief and practice. The study is a follow-up to an earlier study on religion in America conducted in 2007.
Among religious groups, Jewish and Buddhist Americans were most likely to believe in a few form of evolution, with 81 percent of Jews and 86 percent of Buddhists.
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Women are more prayerful than men, with 64 percent saying they pray every day, compared with 46 percent of men. In total, three-in-ten Democrats now say they have no religion – a nine-point spike in seven years.
