Religion in the United States

Religious affiliation in the United States, per Gallup, Inc. (2023)[1]

  Protestant (33%)
  Catholic (22%)
  Christian (unspecified) (11%)
  Jewish (2%)
  Mormon (1%)
  Another religion (6%)
  No religion (22%)
  No answer (3%)
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Religion in the United States is both widespread and diverse, with higher reported levels of belief than other wealthy Western nations.[2][3][4] Polls indicate that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe in a higher power (2021),[5] engage in spiritual practices (2022),[6] and consider themselves religious or spiritual (2017).[7][8]

Christianity is the most widely professed religion, with the majority of Americans being Evangelicals, Mainline Protestants, or Catholics,[9][10] although its dominance has declined in recent decades, and as of 2012 Protestants no longer formed a majority in the U.S.[11] The United States has the largest Christian and Protestant population in the world.[12] Judaism is the second-largest religion in the U.S., practiced by 2% of the population, followed by Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, each with 1% of the population.[13] States vary in religiousity from Mississippi, where 63% of adults self-describe as very religious, to New Hampshire where only 20% do.[14] The elected legislators of Congress overwhelmingly identify as religious and Christian; with few exceptions, both the Republican and Democratic parties nominate those who are.[15][16] Religious figures (Carrie Nation, William Jennings Bryan, Martin Luther King Jr., Wallace Fard Muhammad, Jimmy Carter, Jerry Falwell), have played a significant role in American politics.

Among the historical and social characteristics of the United States that some scholars of religion credit for the country's high level of religiousness include its Constitutional guarantees of Freedom of religion and legal tradition of separation of church and state;[17][18] the early immigration of religious dissenters from Northwestern Europe (Anglicans, Quakers, Mennonites, and other mainline Protestants); the religious revivalism of the first (1730s and 1740s), and second (1790s and 1840s) Great Awakenings, which led to an enormous growth in Christian congregations -- from 10% of Americans being members before the Awakenings, to 80% belonging after.[19]

The aftermath led to what historian Martin Marty calls the "Evangelical Empire", a period in which evangelicals dominated U.S. cultural institutions.[20] They supported (and opposed) measures to abolish slavery, further women's rights, enact prohibition, and reform education and criminal justice.[21] New Protestant denominations were formed (Adventism, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Latter Day Saint movement (Mormonism), Churches of Christ and Church of Christ, Scientist, Unitarian and Universalist, Pentecostalism).[22] Outside of Protestantism, an unprecedented number of Catholic and Jewish immigrants arrived in the United States during the immigrant waves of the mid to late 19th and 20th century.

Social scientists have noted that beginning in the early 1990s, the percentage of Americans professing no religious affiliation began to rise from 6% in 1991[23] to 29% in 2021[24][25][26] — with younger people having higher rates of unaffiliation.[23] Similarly, polling indicated a decline in church attendance,[27] and the number of people agreeing with the statement that religion is "very important" in their lives.[28] Explanations for this trend include lack of trust,[29] backlash against the religious right in the 1980s,[30] sexual abuse scandals in established religions,[31][32] the end of the Cold War (and its connection of religiosity with patriotism), and the September 11 attacks (by religious Jihadists).[23][33] Nonetheless, the majority of the "Nones", those without a religious affiliation, have belief in a higher power and spiritual forces beyond the natural world.[34][35]

  1. ^ Staff. "In Depth: Topics A to Z (Religion)". Gallup, Inc. Retrieved November 1, 2023. Answering the question of "What is your religious preference -- are you Protestant, Roman Catholic, Mormon, Jewish, Muslim, another religion or no religion?"
  2. ^ Melton 2009.
  3. ^ Pasquier, Michael (2023) [2016]. Religion in America: The Basics (2nd ed.). London; New York: Routledge. pp. 6–7. ISBN 9780367691806.
  4. ^ Fahmy, Dalia (July 31, 2018). "Americans are far more religious than adults in other wealthy nations". Pew Research Center. Archived from the original on January 9, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2020. American adults under the age of 40 are less likely to pray than their elders, less likely to attend church services and less likely to identify with any religion – all of which may portend future declines in levels of religious commitment
  5. ^ Mitchell, Travis (November 23, 2021). "Few Americans Blame God or Say Faith Has Been Shaken Amid Pandemic, Other Tragedies". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. The combined nine-in-ten Americans who believe in God or a higher power (91%) were asked a series of follow-up questions about the relationship between God and human suffering.
  6. ^ Froese, Paul; Uecker, Jeremy E. (September 2022). "Prayer in America: A Detailed Analysis of the Various Dimensions of Prayer". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 61 (3–4): 663–689. doi:10.1111/jssr.12810. ISSN 0021-8294. S2CID 253439298.
  7. ^ Chaves, Mark (2017). American Religion: Contemporary Trends. Princeton, NJ; London: Princeton University Press. pp. 38–39. ISBN 9780691177564. The vast majority of people — approximately 80 percent — describe themselves as both spiritual and religious. Still, a small but growing minority of Americans describe themselves as spiritual but not religious, as figure 3.4 shows. In 1998, 9 percent of Americans described themselves as at least moderately spiritual but not more than slightly religious. That number rose to 16 percent in the 2010s.
  8. ^ Pearce, Lisa D.; Gilliland, Claire C. (2020). Religion in America. Sociology in the Twenty-First Century, 6. Oakland, Ca: University of California Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780520296411. Most people in the United States, however, identify as spiritual and religious.
  9. ^ Melton 2012.
  10. ^ Pearce, Lisa D.; Gilliland, Claire C. (2020). Religion in America. Sociology in the Twenty-First Century, 6. Oakland, Ca: University of California Press. pp. 7–8. ISBN 9780520296411.
  11. ^ "Protestants no longer the majority in U.S." CBS News. October 9, 2012.
  12. ^ "The American Religious Landscape in 2020s". Public Religion Research Institute. July 8, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  13. ^ "In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace" Archived October 3, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, Pew Research Center, October 17, 2019, Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  14. ^ Newport, Frank (February 4, 2016). "New Hampshire Now Least Religious State in U.S." Gallup. Archived from the original on August 19, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  15. ^ Giatti, Ian M.; Reporter, Christian Post (January 6, 2023). "Christians continue to dominate Congress even as fewer Americans identify as religious: survey". The Christian Post. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  16. ^ Contreras, Russell (April 23, 2023). "Our lawmakers are more religious than we are". Axios. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  17. ^ Holifield, E. Brooks (2015). Why Are Americans So Religious? The Limitations of Market Explanations. Religion and the Marketplace in the United States. pp. 33–60. ISBN 9780199361809.
  18. ^ Donadio, Rachel (November 22, 2021). "Why Is France So Afraid of God?". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  19. ^ Sullivan, Andrew (September 14, 2018). "The American Past: A History of Contradictions". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  20. ^ Marty 1986, Front matter.
  21. ^ Conroy-Krutz, Emily (June 7, 2013). "Religion and Reform". The American Yawp. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  22. ^ Backman 1983.
  23. ^ a b c Thompson, Derek (September 26, 2019). "Three Decades Ago, America Lost Its Religion. Why?". The Atlantic Magazine. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  24. ^ "1. How U.S. religious composition has changed in recent decades". Pew Research Center. September 13, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  25. ^ "America's Changing Religious Landscape". Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. May 12, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  26. ^ "In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace". Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. October 17, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference PEW-decline-2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ Cite error: The named reference gallup-HWAA-2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference Millennials religion was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ Hout, Michael; Fischer, Claude (2014). "Explaining Why More Americans Have No Religious Preference: Political Backlash and Generational Succession, 1987-2012". Sociological Science. 1: 423–447. doi:10.15195/v1.a24. ISSN 2330-6696.
  31. ^ Wehner, Peter (May 24, 2022). "No Atheist Has Done This Much Damage to the Christian Faith". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  32. ^ Smietana, Bob (September 13, 2022). "U.S. Christian majority could fade in coming decades, models find". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  33. ^ "Is Religion on the Decline? Q+A with Sociologist Christian Smith". Chicago Humanities. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  34. ^ "Are all religiously unaffiliated adults in the US nonbelievers?". Pew Research Center. January 24, 2024. Archived from the original on May 7, 2024. Not all 'nones' are nonbelievers. Far from it. While the "nones" include many nonbelievers, 70% of "nones" say they believe in God or another higher power, and 63% say they believe in spiritual forces beyond the natural world.
  35. ^ Cite error: The named reference Burge 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).