The Christian population in the United States is declining, while the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation is on the rise, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.
The 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study, a follow-up to a similar wide-ranging study conducted in 2007, shows that the percentage of Christians in the country has fallen almost 8 percentage points, from 78.4 percent to 70.6 percent. The religiously unaffiliated, which include those who say they are atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular," have risen from 16.1 percent to 22.8 percent.
Commonly referred to as the "nones," this group now encompasses a larger percentage of the population than either Catholics or mainline Protestants, which comprise 20.8 and 14.7 percent respectively.
The survey of 35,071 U.S. adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.6 percentage points.
Greg Smith, associate director of research for the Pew Research Center, said the key finding in the survey is the pace of growth of the religiously unaffiliated.
"We have known the 'nones' have been growing for some time, but the pace of their continued growth is really remarkable," Smith said. "They now represent almost 23 percent of the population," or approximately 56 million.
Smith said the sharp decline in adults who identify as Christians is also notable.
"To be sure, the United States remains home to more Christians than any other country in the world," he said. "But the share of adults who identify as Christian plummeted by nearly 8 percentage points. We estimate the number of Christian adults has fallen by about 5 million since 2007."
According to the survey, the Christian population is estimated to be 173 million.
These losses have been driven by several factors, including a drop in the number of mainline Protestants and Catholics. The study shows that the number of mainline Protestants (United Methodists and Episcopalians among them) and Catholics have each dropped by 3 percent since 2007. The mainline Protestant population dropped from roughly 41 million to 36 million, while the Catholic population dropped from 54 million to 51 million.
By comparison, other Christian groups have fared better. Evangelical Protestants, including Southern Baptists and Assemblies of God, dipped slightly by 1 percent to 62 million, and adherents of historically black Protestant churches remained fairly stable since the last study at nearly 16 million.
As a group, Protestants once dominated the country's religious landscape, but that is no longer the case. Seven years ago, 51.3 percent of Americans identified as Protestant; in the latest study 46.5 percent do so. Of the Protestant groups, evangelicals are the largest, with 25.4 percent of the population.
One group that is growing is those who identify as nondenominational Christians. They account for 6.2 percent of the population, up from 4.5 percent in 2007.
The survey posits some reasons for the changing religious landscape, including religious switching and generational replacement, meaning that younger Americans are much less likely to claim a religious affiliation than older generations.
For example, 85 percent of adults born between 1928-1945 (the so-called Silent generation) identify themselves as Christian, while 56 percent of younger Millennials, those born between 1990-1996, do so. Thirty-six percent of young Millennials identify as "nones" while only 11 percent of the Silent generation does.
But there are also signs that older generations are increasingly identifying as religiously unaffiliated, with the percentages rising in all age groups from 2007 to this newest report.
"These changes at the national level are seen all across the board. In every region, men and women are becoming less likely to identify as Christians," Smith said. "We see it in every region of the country, including the Bible Belt. It is true that each region has its own particular religious culture so each starts from a different starting point, but every region is becoming less religiously affiliated."
Nineteen percent of those surveyed in the South identify as "nones," up from 13 percent since the last study. "Nones" also increased to 22 percent in the Midwest, 25 percent in the Northeast and 28 percent in the West -- making "nones" the largest group percentagewise over every other religious group in the area.
"If someone looks at these data and says, 'Ah, it's just the young folks, give them time and they will start families and as they grow they will return to church, temple or mosque,' the data don't suggest that has been the case in the past," said Alan Cooperman, director of religion research at the Pew Research Center.
Religious switching -- changing from one Christian denomination to another, from one faith to another, or from a faith to none -- accounts for some of the changes in the numbers of Christians and "nones," as well.
"Religious switching remains common in the United States," Smith said. "Fully 34 percent have a religious identity different from the one in which they were raised."
The "nones" have gained the most through switching. Eighteen percent of U.S. adults raised in a religious faith now say they claim no religious affiliation. That means for each person who joined a religion after being unaffiliated, more than four who were religious are now "nones."
While the "nones" have increased from religious switching, Catholics have been hit the hardest. According to the report, "nearly one-third of American adults (31.7 percent) say they were raised Catholic. Among that group, fully 41 percent no longer identify with Catholicism. This means that 12.9 percent of American adults are former Catholics, while just 2 percent of U.S. adults have converted to Catholicism from another religious tradition."
Non-Christian faiths, especially Islam and Hinduism, also are seeing an increase in adherents. The percentage of those identifying with a non-Christian faith has risen from 4.7 percent to 5.9 percent, a small increase but a notable one given the decreases in Christianity.
"This study starkly reveals the dispersion, diversity and dynamism of American religion," said John Green, senior adviser for the Pew Research Center. "What those trends are combining to do is to create a new collage of religion in the United States."
Green said the rise in the number of "nones," especially the increase in Americans who describe themselves as atheists or agnostics, points to the emergence of a secular subculture in the country that is comparable in size to the country's individual religious groups. What that will mean in terms of societal norms and politics remains to be seen.
Green said the diversity of faiths offers wider "opportunities for cooperation -- whether for social or political purposes -- but also creates more occasions for conflict between groups."
Cooperman said a forthcoming report will go into detail about religious practices and beliefs, including levels of church attendance, rates of prayer and political and social attitudes.
The full report is available online at pewforum.org.
Religion on 05/16/2015