Since the 1990s, large numbers of Americans have left Christianity to join the growing ranks of U.S. adults who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” If recent trends in religious switching continue, Christians could make up less than half of the U.S. population within a few decades.
When it comes to religious affiliation, the 117th U.S. Congress looks similar to the previous Congress but quite different from Americans overall.
Since the establishment of the ATP, the Center has gradually migrated away from telephone polling and toward online survey administration, and since early 2019, the Center has conducted most of its U.S. polling on the ATP. This shift has major implications for the way the Center measures trends in American religion – including those from the Center’s flagship Religious Landscape Studies, which were conducted by phone in 2007 and 2014.
American adolescents often participate at parents’ behest, and tend to be less religious in more personal, private ways.
A Pew Research Center survey conducted in the summer of 2020 reveals that more Americans than people in other economically developed countries say the coronavirus outbreak has bolstered their religious faith and the faith of their compatriots.
This Pew Research Center analysis harnesses computational techniques to identify, collect and analyze the sermons that U.S. churches livestream or share on their websites each week.
Just three-in-ten Catholic adults say Francis is doing an excellent or good job addressing the sex abuse scandal, down 14 points from this January and 24 points since 2015.
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