Post by Eugene 2.0 on Oct 13, 2022 14:19:31 GMT
www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/06/24/poll-americans-belief-god-is-dropping/
In the latest Gallup Poll, belief in God dipped to 81 percent, down six percentage points from 2017, the lowest since Gallup first asked the question in 1944.
Even at 81 percent, Americans’ belief in God remains robust, at least in comparison with Europe, where only 26 percent said they believed in the God of the Bible, and 36 percent said they believed in a higher power, according to a 2018 Pew poll.
Throughout the post-World War II era, an overwhelming 98 percent of U.S. adults said they believed in God. The proportion began to fall in 2011, when 92 percent of Americans said they believed in God and, in 2013, went down to 87 percent.
The latest decline may be part of the larger growth in the number of Americans who are unaffiliated or say they have no religion in particular. About 29 percent of Americans are religious “nones” — people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religious identity.
In the latest Gallup Poll, belief in God dipped to 81 percent, down six percentage points from 2017, the lowest since Gallup first asked the question in 1944.
Even at 81 percent, Americans’ belief in God remains robust, at least in comparison with Europe, where only 26 percent said they believed in the God of the Bible, and 36 percent said they believed in a higher power, according to a 2018 Pew poll.
Throughout the post-World War II era, an overwhelming 98 percent of U.S. adults said they believed in God. The proportion began to fall in 2011, when 92 percent of Americans said they believed in God and, in 2013, went down to 87 percent.
The latest decline may be part of the larger growth in the number of Americans who are unaffiliated or say they have no religion in particular. About 29 percent of Americans are religious “nones” — people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religious identity.
“Belief is typically the last thing to go,” said Ryan Burge, an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. “They stop attending, they stop affiliating and then they stop believing.”
Less surprising, the Gallup survey showed belief in God has fallen most among younger Americans. Only 68 percent of adults ages 18-29 said they believed in God (compared with 87 percent of Americans age 65 or older.)
