Report Highlights Religious Shifts In USA

The United States is steadily becoming less Christian and the number of people with no religion is rising. Those are the twin headlines from the latest Pew Research report released recently, which shows a dramatic decline in American religious habits over the course of a decade. The report, an aggregation of yearly political surveys that ask about religion, shows rapid changes in generational attitudes towards religion. It finds that two-thirds (65%) of Americans describe themselves as Christians, down from 77% in 2009. It also shows that the number of Americans who say they have no religion sometimes called ‘nones’ has risen to 26%, up from 17% a decade ago.
“The rate at which Christians are declining is very striking,” said Greg Smith, associate director of research at Pew. “And the share of Americans who have no religion is growing very rapidly, which is just as striking.”
Protestants now make up less than half of all U.S. adults or 43% (down from 51% a decade ago) and Catholics make up 20% (down from 23% in 2009). Those figures are reflected in attendance at religious services as well. For the first time, more Americans say they attend religious services a few times a year or less (54%) than those who attend at least once a month (45%). The study notes that while overall church attendance is down, 62% of Christians say they attend services once a month or more about the same as a decade ago.
“It’s quite shocking,” said Scott Thumma, a sociologist of religion at Hartford Seminary. “This rapid shift is about generational replacement. The most religious folks are the ones who are dying and the least religious folks are the ones coming in.”
To put it most graphically, 84% of the Silent Generation (born between 1928 and 1945) identify as Christian, compared with 49% of the millennial generation (born between 1981 and 1996).
The report also showed a slower decline among black and Hispanic Americans. Both groups are more likely to describe themselves as Christians and to attend religious services. Among African-Americans, 58% say they attend church more than once a month (compared to 42% of whites) and 51% of Hispanics said the same.
(Extracted from religionnews.com)