When Americans Say They Believe in God, What Do They Mean?
Nine-in-ten Americans believe in a higher power, but only a slim majority believe in God as described in the Bible.
Beliefs & Practices
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Beliefs & Practices
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Christian women in the U.S. are more religious than their male counterparts
More than seven-in-ten U.S. Christian women say religion is very important in their lives, compared with 62% of the country’s Christian men.
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Share of married adults varies widely across U.S. religious groups
In the United States, 48% of American adults say they are married. A higher-than-average share of adults are married in certain religious groups.
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American religious groups vary widely in their views of abortion
Many Many Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and members of some evangelical churches say abortion should be illegal. But among other religious groups, many support legal abortion.
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Meditation is common across many religious groups in the U.S.
Substantial shares of Americans of nearly all religious groups – as well as those who have no religious affiliation – say they meditate at least once a week.
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5 facts about Christmas in America
Read five facts about Christmas in America and how people celebrate the holiday.
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Americans Say Religious Aspects of Christmas Are Declining in Public Life
Most U.S. adults believe the religious aspects of Christmas are emphasized less now than in the past – even as relatively few are bothered by this trend.
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Ethiopia is an outlier in the Orthodox Christian world
Ethiopia has 36 million Orthodox Christians, the world’s second-largest Orthodox population after Russia. By many measures, Orthodox Ethiopians have much higher levels of religious commitment than do Orthodox Christians in the faith’s heartland of Central and Eastern Europe.
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Views of transgender issues divide along religious lines
Most Christians in America say that whether someone is a man or a woman is determined by their sex at birth. Yet, many religious “nones” have different views.
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A growing share of Americans say it’s not necessary to believe in God to be moral
Most U.S. adults now say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values, up from about half who expressed this view in 2011.
