Christianity is declining at a 'rapid pace' in America, with a quarter of the population following no religion
Fewer number of Americans are attending churches and identifying themselves as Christians, according to a survey made by the Pew Research Center (PRC). And this decline of Christianity is happening at a “rapid pace,'' says the study.
As per telephonic surveys conducted by the PRC in 2018 and 2019, the percentage of American adults who describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion stands at 65 and it is full 12 points less than what it was over the past decade. On the other side, the population that doesn’t identify itself with a religion and consider itself atheist, agnostic of “nothing in particular”, stands now at 26 percent, nine points more than that found in 2009.
Protestants and Catholics also in decline
When further broken down, the Protestants and Catholics, too, have witnessed a decline in their numbers. According to the survey, 43 percent of American adults now consider themselves Protestants while the number was 51 percent a decade ago. Among the Catholics, likewise, the number has seen a fall from 23 percent to 20 percent between 2009 and 2019.
Among the ‘religiously unaffiliated’ population, self-described atheists have grown up from two percent in 2009 to four percent currently; agnostics have gone up from three percent a decade ago to five percent while the number of Americans who call their religion as “nothing in particular” has gone up from 12 percent in 2009 to 17 percent now. Even those belonging to non-Christian religions like Hinduism and Islam have grown, thanks to immigration.
When seen from a political perspective, the “nones” are growing faster among both the Republicans and Democrats but their growth cuts across other socio-geographical parameters like race, education, gender and region. The growth is the most prominent among young adults (Millennials) while the older generations identify themselves as Christian. Among the Millennials, only 49 percent consider themselves as Christians while 10 percent identify with other religions and 40 percent as “nones”. Even the number of women identifying themselves as “nones” has been found to be increasing.