Americans Rejecting Religion

Political scientist Ryan Burge found that the percent of Americans claiming no religious affiliation is now so large that it rivals the other two largest groups, Catholics and evangelical Christians, according to a new analysis of the General Social Survey.

According to the data, those claiming “no religion” — often called “nones” — now make up 23.1 percent of the population. Evangelicals are 22.8 percent of the population, while Catholics are at 23 percent.

Others surveys have similarly found that unbelief is on the rise — particularly among the younger cohorts.

 Pew Research Center, for instance, similarly found that 22.8 percent of Americans are nones, a population that is more densely concentrated in the Northeast and on the West Coast. It found that 35 percent of people between the ages of 18-29 fall into this category, while that number is 37 percent for the ages 30-49, 19 percent for the ages 50-64, and 9 percent for ages 65 and older.

There are many explanations for the shifts away from organized religion: Perceived struggles between religion and science, the many scandals in organized religion, the politicization of faith, and the failure of religion to address many of the worlds most pressing problems. But there’s also just the simple fact that richer countries tend to be less religious overall. 

https://www.alternet.org/2019/04/americans-are-increasingly-abandoning-organized-religion/