The US Is Losing Its Religion: Americans Becoming Less Christian, More Atheist

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According to a new Pew Research Center survey, the percentage of American adults identifying as Christians has fallen from 78.4 in 2007 to about 70.6 in 2014. Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated — describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” — has jumped from 16.1 to 22.8. Share of non-Christian religious faiths, including Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and “other world religions and faiths” has also increased from 4.7% to 5.9% of US adults.

“The US remains home to more Christians than any other country in the world, and a large majority of Americans continue to identify with some branch of the Christian faith, but the percentage of adults who describe themselves as Christians has dropped by almost eight points since 2007,” the survey of a little over 35,000 adults found.

According to The Religious Landscape Study, one of the most important factors in the declining share of Christians and the growth of the “nones” is generational replacement. As the Millennial generation enters adulthood, its members display much lower levels of religious affiliation, including less connection with Christian churches, than older generations.

However, generational replacement is by no means the only reason that religious “nones” are growing and Christians are declining. People in older generations are increasingly disavowing association with organized religion, the survey found.

“The younger generation seems much less involved in organized religion and the older generation is passing on, which is a very important factor,” John Green, a professor of political science at the University of Akron in Ohio and an adviser on the survey, told The Guardian.

So Why Is Atheism More Popular Than Ever?

“The involvement of religious groups in politics, particularly regarding issues such as same sex marriage and abortion, is alienating younger adults, who tend to have more liberal and progressive views than older people. The rise of the Internet and social media has also drawn younger adults towards online, general social groups and away from face-to-face organizations and traditional habits, such as churchgoing,” Green noted.

A survey of 4,500 Americans taken between November 12 and December 18, 2013, by Public Religion Research Institute provided further evidence that negative teachings related to gays and lesbians hurt churches’ ability to attract and retain young people and played a significant role in nearly one-third of Millennial leaving organized religion.

Specifically, 17% of Millennial, or adults between 18 and 33, said negativity around LGBT issues in religion was “somewhat important” to their departure, while 14% said it was a “very important” factor. A majority of Americans, 58%, also said that religious groups are “alienating young adults by being too judgmental on gay and lesbian issues“; among Millennial, that percentage jumped to 70.

Pew Research Center predicts by 2050, the number of Muslims would nearly equal the number of Christians. While Christianity would remain the world’s largest religion, with 2.92 billion believers, the population of Muslims would grow rapidly — from 1.6 billion in 2010 to 2.76 billion in 2050. The population of religiously unaffiliated is forecast to increase to 1.2 billion in 2050. In the US, their population would grow from 16% in 2010 to 26% in 2050.

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