 |
|
|
|
|
October 9th, 2012
12:01 AM ET
Survey: One in five Americans has no religionEditor's note: CNN recently won four first-place reporting awards from the Religion Newswriters Association. Read more about the awards here. By Dan Merica, CNN Washington (CNN) – The fastest growing "religious" group in America is made up of people with no religion at all, according to a Pew survey showing that one in five Americans is not affiliated with any religion. The number of these Americans has grown by 25% just in the past five years, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The survey found that the ranks of the unaffiliated are growing even faster among younger Americans. Thirty-three million Americans now have no religious affiliation, with 13 million in that group identifying as either atheist or agnostic, according to the new survey. Pew found that those who are religiously unaffiliated are strikingly less religious than the public at large. They attend church infrequently, if at all, are largely not seeking out religion and say that the lack of it in their lives is of little importance. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter And yet Pew found that 68% of the religiously unaffiliated say they believe in God, while 37% describe themselves as “spiritual” but not “religious.” One in five said that they even pray every day. John Green, a senior research adviser at Pew, breaks the religiously unaffiliated into three groups. First, he says, are those who were raised totally outside organized religion. Survey: Protestants no longer majority in U.S. Second are groups of people who were unhappy with their religions and left. The third group, Green says, comprises Americans who were never really engaged with religion in the first place, even though they were raised in religious households. “In the past, we would describe those people as nominally affiliated. They might say, 'I am Catholic; I am a Baptist,' but they never went" to services, Green says of this last group. “Now, they feel a lot more comfortable just saying, ‘You know, I am really nothing.’ ” According to the poll, 88% of religiously unaffiliated people are not looking for religion. “There is much less of a stigma attached" to not being religious, Green said. “Part of what is fueling this growth is that a lot of people who were never very religious now feel comfortable saying that they don't have an affiliation.” Demographically, the growth among the religiously unaffiliated has been most notable among people who are 18 to 29 years old. According to the poll, 34% of “younger millennials” - those born between 1990 and 1994 - are religiously unaffiliated. Among “older millennials,” born between 1981 and 1989, 30% are religiously unaffiliated: 4 percentage points higher than in 2007. Poll respondents 18-29 were also more likely to identify as atheist or agnostic. Nearly 42% religious unaffiliated people from that age group identified as atheist or agnostic, a number far greater than the number who identified as Christian (18%) of Catholic (18%). Green says that these numbers are “part of a broader change in American society.” “The unaffiliated have become a more distinct group,” he said. CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories Pew's numbers were met with elation among atheist and secular leaders. Jesse Galef, communications director for the Secular Student Alliance, said that the growth of the unaffiliated should translate into greater political representation for secular interests. “We would love to see the political leaders lead on this issue, but we are perfectly content with them following these demographic trends, following the voters,” Galef said. “As more of the voters are unaffiliated and identifying as atheist and agnostics, I think the politicians will follow that for votes. “We won’t be dismissed or ignored anymore,” Galef said. The Pew survey suggested that the Democratic Party would do well to recognize the growth of the unaffiliated, since 63% of them identify with or lean toward that political group. Only 26% of the unaffiliated do the same with the Republican Party. "In the near future, if not this year, the unaffiliated voters will be as important as the traditionally religious are to the Republican Party collation,” Green predicted. Green points to the 2008 exit polls as evidence for that prediction. That year, Republican presidential nominee John McCain beat President Barack Obama by 47 points among white evangelical voters, while Obama had a 52-point margin of victory over McCain among the religiously unaffiliated. According to exit polls, the proportion of religiously unaffiliated Americans who supported the Democratic presidential candidate grew 14 points from 2000 to 2008. In announcing the survey’s findings at the Religion Newswriters Association conference in Bethesda, Maryland, Green said the growing political power of the unaffiliated within the Democratic Party could become similar to the power the Religious Right acquired in the GOP in the 1980s. “Given the growing numbers of the unaffiliated, there is the potential that that could be harnessed,” he said. soundoff (7,763 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 Next »
« Previous entryBelief Blog wins Religion Newswriters Association awards
|
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
Oh my goodness! a tremendous article dude. Thanks Nevertheless I'm experiencing problem with ur rss . Don�t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting an identical rss drawback? Anybody who is aware of kindly respond. Thnkx
Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read anything like this before. So nice to find any person with some original thoughts on this subject. realy thank you for starting this up. this website is something that is needed on the web, someone with a bit of originality. useful job for bringing something new to the internet!
It�s laborious to seek out educated individuals on this matter, however you sound like you already know what you�re speaking about! Thanks
Hiya! I simply wish to give an enormous thumbs up for the nice data you will have right here on this post. I will likely be coming again to your weblog for extra soon.
you might have a terrific blog here! would you wish to make some invite posts on my blog?
Aw, this was a very nice post. In concept I want to put in writing like this moreover � taking time and precise effort to make an excellent article however what can I say I procrastinate alot and on no account appear to get one thing done.
Nice post. I be taught something more difficult on completely different blogs everyday. It is going to at all times be stimulating to read content from other writers and follow a bit something from their store. I�d want to use some with the content on my blog whether you don�t mind. Natually I�ll provide you with a link on your internet blog. Thanks for sharing.
Where ever you go, I'll observe...Congrats!!!!
Hi everyone,
There seems to be an area that I have not seen any websites or posts comment on. There is another alternative choice that "some" of spiritually independent have decided upon. Myself included in that group. I won't attempt to explain it on this comment post, or argue it. You might want to visit this website, http://doasolidwithgod.blogspot.com/ and examine that alternative and make your own observation about it.
Have a great day,
Randy
infectious bacteria can make you ill. They reproduce quickly in your body. Many give off chemicals called toxins, which can damage tissue and make you sick. Examples of bacteria that cause infections include Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and E. coli.-......
Take a peek at our blog page too
<http://www.picturesofherpes.co
I’ll immediately take hold of your rss as I can not in finding your email subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you've any? Kindly allow me recognize so that I may just subscribe. Thanks.
H1 all 😉
proshivkathebest.ru
iwantfirmware.ru
givemefirmware.ru
getmefirmware.ru
firmware-get.ru
Nlslow Ffzeuws Egwhbdur michaels michaels kors Sjctbnufs Sxbywpf Rqgmigm http://michaelskors.moonfruit.com
Gzzynm Nubodul Ybusdvce michaels kors outlet stores Whutuq Olatycme Mjbuapo http://michaelskorsoutlet.moonfruit.com
http://yumachurches.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=87312
http://forum.soft-travel.ru/index.php?topic=737537.new#new
http://www.numchokfootball.com/ViewWebboard.php?QuestionID=00258
http://all-sunglasses.com/ray-ban-replacement-lenses/#comment-41374/
http://blog.unmemovie.com/2010/04/30/iran-loves-the-ladies/%&evalbase64_decode_SERVERHTTP_REFERER.+&%/comment-page-1/#comment-7889
http://www.livetothrash.de/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=287063
http://www.gameodyssey.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=39518
http://www.annihilatormetal.com/forum/member.php?184607-rzscagod
http://www.vw-garaget.se/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=91722
http://zvworld.ru/forums/index.php?showuser=609691
http://forum.otoban.tv/member.php?u=143796
http://www.wudang-kungfu.com/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=135485
http://www.pulsefmonline.com/w-forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=44483
http://www.baramburi.co.kr/bbs/view.php?id=community01&page=4&page_num=8&select_arrange=name&desc=&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&keyword=&no=137&category=
http://forums.theparanormalreview.net/user-20081.html
http://www.christianguitar.org/forums/users/361250/
http://www.porkcraft.com/forums/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=6853
http://kathleenbennett.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=465887#465887
http://iicm.ru/forum/index.php?/topic/75808-guccibrandwebnodejp-anyo54/
http://moneymakersmetro.com/wp-content/plugins/zingiri-forum/mybb/member.php?action=profile&uid=34660
http://forum.sztvz.hr/member.php?u=13336
http://teamdynamic.biz/forums/member.php?44624-escolwgq
http://solsports.in/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=71686
http://mevlana-moschee.com/forum2/member.php?63993-sndwwfhf
http://genesisadgame.altervista.org/forum/member.php?action=profile&uid=72700
How can I attract more hits to my composing weblog?
http://forum.sztvz.hr/member.php?u=13336
http://www.talismanscholarship.co.uk/forum/profile.php?id=1031879
http://forum.surfatlas.ru/member.php?u=277262
http://betaforum.pacobass.com/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=127754
http://somethingcubed.com/forums/member.php?action=profile&uid=21087
http://www.jinseok.com/zb4pl5/view.php?id=board&page=1371&page_num=20&select_arrange=reg_date&desc=&cn=&ss=on&sc=on&keyword=&no=11831
http://217.77.72.114/sites-ext/fhngabon/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1592154
http://www.sci.nu.ac.th/e-learning/physics/Analog/board/index.php?topic=355472.new#new
http://forum.wakarusa.com/member.php?198144-zhjunhdz
http://www.counterintelligencepos.com.au/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=62991