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 The Reason Rally, sponsored by secular organizations, draws a crowd to Washington.
May 29th, 2013
03:06 PM ET
Poll: America losing its religionBy Dan Merica, CNN Washington (CNN) – More than three in four of Americans say religion is losing its influence in the United States, according to a new survey, the highest such percentage in more than 40 years. A nearly identical percentage says that trend bodes ill for the country. "It may be happening, but Americans don't like it," Frank Newport, Gallup's editor in chief, said of religion's waning influence. "It is clear that a lot of Americans don't think this is a good state of affairs." According to the Gallup survey released Wednesday, 77% of Americans say religion is losing its influence. Since 1957, when the question was first asked, Americans' perception of religion's power has never been lower. According to the poll, 75% of Americans said the country would be better off if it were more religious. The poll doesn't reflect Americans' personal religiosity, such as church attendance, but rather how large events and trends shape shared views, Newport explained. For example, the sexual revolution, the Vietnam War and the rise of the counterculture fed the perception that religion was on the wane during the late 1960s, he said. Views of a secularizing America peaked in 1969 and 1970, when 75% of Americans said faith was losing its clout in society. A similar view dominated from 1991-94 and from 2007 to the present. Americans saw religion increasing its influence in 1957, in 1962 and at a few points during the Reagan presidency in 1980. This number also spiked to its highest point ever - 71% - after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The pollster didn't speculate on the contemporary factors that led to the current views on faith's influence. Still, the poll numbers are dramatically influenced by church attendance, according to Gallup. More than 90% of people who attend church weekly responded that a more religious America would be positive, compared with 58% of Americans who attended church "less often." The Gallup poll was conducted via telephone from May 2 to May 7. A total of 1,535 people were sampled for the poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. soundoff (6,389 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 Next »
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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.  |
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YAY !! Glad to hear it ... i just hope the Islamic world catches on too – they really need to get a grip on reality ! 😦
Maybe you should talk to them after drum practice.
moon627 You probably already know that deacon is a condescending aszhole who needs to put people down for his own reasons, just makes him feel superior I guess. Best to ignore it.
Rugrats from Alia Shawkat
fantastic!!!!!
thank god
I am loosing my religion but not my faith... I tried time and again to find a church not involved with politics but after several attempts I've thrown in towel. Even after assuring me that politics would not be preached from the pulpit, I found the Gospel of Christ became intertwwined with the gospel of the Republican Party slamming Obama and any other Democrat... guess Republican are above sin... anyway, if I have to hear the Glorious Gospel Of the Republican National Committee when I attend service, I simply won't attend service.
Why do you people always spell losing wrong? It truly is embarrassing , that adults can not spell a simple word.
Fair enough. There must be a smaller church around you somewhere that focuses on the faith part; if nothing else, start a study group of your own.
The wisest thing that has ever been said to me:
"The Bible says that God created man in His image and likeness, when in fact the reverse is true."
I honestly feel sorry for you if that's "the wisest thing anyone has said to you."
As this country is sinking fast, most of us who have faith in God will be covered by his grace and mercy. Hopefully more learn before their time runs out....
Why is it not good enough to simply be a good person? Why must one acknowledge that this "god" is the almighty? Seems a bit vein.
still brainwashed, huh
Hahaha... That was hilarious; you are a genius comedian. Thanks for making my day.
Just remember that Thor is the one True God – or Odin of course.
VERILY, IT IS SO, THE ALLFATHER IS THE GREATEST OF ALL GODS.
This is the silliest article I have ever seen....... the reason people feel this way is because our country is in shambles because of Anti Christ Obama. peoples opinion are turning more negative towards the Nation in this poll not religion that people are beginning to hate and despise its our nation. With gay marriage ,Peta and there pro bestiality stance, Dems supporting pedophiles get out of jail early card. Dems wanting to tax churches. Socialism on a roll in New England and California. Anti gun crowd that thinks there going to get rid of guns 🙂 lol. Wall st haters that think welfare is a better route. Legalizing drugs. I do agree in the north and far west (CA OR WA) these things are taking place but in the south and mid west ...not so much we still go to church , say grace and will continue not matter the fight lasts nor how grave the cost my be .
Nice attempt at trolling. Pedestrian at best, yet, it has a familiar bouquet. I give it a 4.
lmfao. i only read one sentence, but that is all i needed.
Dude – get your meds checked, I think you may need to up the dose a bit.
yeah you can tell a troll when they call obama the anti-christ, claim peta supports bestiality and dems want to give pedos get out of jail early cards.
Getting a bit crowded under that bridge, but there's still room for one more, troll.
There have been a lot of grammar mistakes lately. "According to the poll, 75% of Americans said it the country would be better off if it was more religious."
WEEEOOOH, WEEEOOOH, WEEEOOOH! BOONK, BOONK, BOONK!
... Here comes the Grammar Police.
While it's natural to feel concern over the effects of Atheism on society, there are examples of countries which have survived the transition with no ill effect. Australia and New Zealand are not very religious, but they maintain societies which are as civil and respectful as the United States.
nonsense aside...religion is a curse, a mental deficiency...believers are morons, plain and simple.
I take it you have a higher IQ than all religious people?
I have to agree with Dan. Atheist elitism is very off-putting and there are many non-believers that believe in false things outside of religion.
Then 75% of Americans are morons? Whether you believe or not...imagine a society in which a belief in God doesn't exist, that God will not hold people accountable for their actions. Imagine a society that is not taught to forgive, give, care about others. Imagine the anarchy...
If you are the smart 25%, then understand the role of religion in a society. Methinks you may be the moron, and a near-sighted one at that.
Imagine that religion is not needed for all the good things in life and you will realize that it is snot .
@Simple Wisdom
There is a serious risk associated with sheeple losing their fear of punishment after death. It is clear that they have a tenuous grasp on reality to begin with, they're believers after all, but if they no longer have the religious morality to live by, we may end up with a lot more murderers and rapists, etc.
It may be in the best interest of society to ween them off their fairy tale gradually.
I think I'll take the intellect of Francis Collins over you.
Did everyone read the article? It said 77% believe religion is losing it's influence and that 75% said that was bad. That 75% believes the country would be better off if it WAS more religious. Note, it does not say which religion(s).
Oh, and violent crime is not down.
Violent crime may not be down, but you're cherry picking here. If I were to directly correlate race relations and equality for women (much progress made, although we have a ways to go) to the USA losing its religion, would I have a point?
Not quite sure how you think I am cherry picking. People aren't reading the article.
Ummm, I was addressing something YOU said, not the article.
"Absolutely everything in the universe was created from absolutely nothing in the blink of an eye"
That's science "that doesn't require faith" for you, lol. Even scientists admit they can't prove this.
You couldn't be more wrong about the Big Bang. The biggest difference between science and religion is that science is the search of truth, and will change its view upon receiving contradictory evidence. Religion provides a story to fill in the gaps of knowledge, and they stubbornly hold on to these stories when the facts prove them wrong.
it is funny I recommend a read to a simi literate Dems/ big bang believers Brian Greenes the fabric of the cosmos. then "if you have to capacity use Deductive reasoning and a little math and you'll see that you leave with more questions , more holes in there story then you started with. Its funny people (libs) take the word of a man who can not measure his "facts" in science as LAW. Yet they laugh when we say the same for God. I guess they like being lied to Oh also look up your higgs boson lie someone asked for a demo and they couldn't replicate the reaction but the project head said oh well truth is you cant see the reaction but we know its happening because of a mathematical energy signature we expected when this theory was put in place in 1964 LOL. It is easy to prove a theory when you already have an answer you just build and equation to fit
Whatever Jeremy. Enjoy the delusion, it's all yours.
@d
All the more reason to claim that the Tooth Fairy did it, right? You have to be a dimwit of the first order to reject scientific theory, supported by enormous amount of evidence, in favor of a fairy tale without the slightest amount of evidence.
Ignorance isn't illegal, but it would sure help if it was painful.
Never being religious, I don't have much interest in this story. I am however, fascinated by people thinking that if religion went away, all the problems of the world would be solved. How? Do you think people giving money to the church will turn it over to the government? Never going to happen.
Do you mean "turn over" as opposed to "borrow into insolvency"
God didn't create man, Man created god to have control over other men. Also, the weak created god in their minds because they didn't have enough faith in themselves. What a better place this world would be if all people understood this is their only life and make the most of it. And befriend their fellow man. How contradictive it is to tell children there is a tooth fairy and know that this is no such thing and then believe there is a God, and you have as much scientific evidence as the tooth fairy existing.
I challenge you in providing me with scientific evidence that proves that God does not exist.
CLOS
I challange you to provide scientific evidence that Russell's teapot does not exist.
Reply to CLOS...
Science does not have to prove that something that isn't there does not exist.
You are the one making up the story. It's up to you to prove that your fairy tale exists.
In reply to CLOS;
Pics, or it didn't happen...
Americans didn't abandon religion. Organized religion abandoned Americans when it identified itself with conservative political causes.
Yeah, libs worship at the altar of the government. Talk about misplaced priorities.
Amen, brother! I think you hit the nail on the head on that one!
Walter missed the point by a wide margin.
Religion isn't being killed it's committing suicide.
thank god.
Religions, every one of them, provide a false view of reality.
They exist in combination with ignorance, hope, and fear and are administered by the priest class who exploit our tribalistic evolutionary baggage.
There is a courage required for atheism. Atheism is the acceptance of eternal nonexistence upon our death, but that's a small price to pay for the comprehension of the awesome beauty that awaits those who discover truth, rather than have "truth" revealed.
No one is coming to save us from ourselves. Certainly not Gods, who only exist in the six inches between our ears.
The ones who truly will "lose" without religion are those living in abject poverty. Their "beautiful" view of the world is that they're stuck in a hell-hole until they turn into worm food. Whoopee!!!!
Prove to me using scientific evidence that God doesn't exist and that there isn't life after death? You can't so your thinking is as much in believing in something...in your case in nothing, just like someone choses to believe in God and life after death.
CLOS:
Prove to me using ANY evidence that God does exist and that there is life after death. See how much fun that is?
To Walter,
The abject poor might stop waisting their precious time, by clasping their hands together and wishing for solutions, if they understood that the only ones going to help them is themselves. Why do you think religions thrive when the population is ignorant and illiterate and desperate?
To CLOS,
The scientific evidence is overwhelming that our mind is a function of our brain. ALL evidence indicates that when our brain ceases to function, so does our consciousness.
And Atheists do realize that death is not the end, we still have some decomposing to do.
People who say America would be better off without religion are ignoring the colossal amount of $$ donated to charity by these churches (given by their members) every year.
I think those opposed to religion honestly believe parishioners will simply turn the money they would have given to the church over to the government. Now that's a fairy tale!!!
I honestly believe people think that instead of giving money to the church, people will turn that money over to the government. Talk about a fairy tale!!!
@ D,
So I should stop donating to my favorite charity because I do not believe in God?
The Money is donated by the people in the church not the church