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Most Americans Embrace Religion, Spirituality—Even Atheists

Insights| Faith & Culture | Sep 24, 2020

Ric Rodrigues photo | Pexels

By Aaron Earls

More U.S. adults say they are currently atheist or agnostic than who say they grew up that way, but faith and spirituality are present even among non-religious Americans, according to a new study.

The multiyear research project from the Fetzer Institute on spirituality in America found 9 in 10 U.S. adults (89%) consider themselves spiritual, religious, or both.

Most (70%) say they are both religious and spiritual. Around 1 in 6 say they are spiritual, but not religious (16%). Close to 1 in 10 (11%) say they are neither. Few (3%) say they are only religious.

Almost 3 in 4 Americans (73%) consider themselves religious to some extent, while 86% say they are at least slightly spiritual.

Despite the high levels of spirituality and religiosity, Americans direct association with religion shrinks as they become adults.

More than 2 in 5 Americans say they grew up Protestant (42%), but only 30% identify as such now.

A Lifeway Research survey found 2 in 3 Protestant teenagers drop out of church for at least a year when they become young adults. Most do eventually begin attending again at least occasionally, but 29% have not returned.

Roman Catholics also saw a similar drop, with 25% saying they were raised as such and 15% claiming the label as an adult.

Unspecified Christians grew 5 percentage points from childhood (14%) to now (19%). This may track with the growth of non-denominational Christians found in other surveys.

Few Americans say they were raised as an atheist (1%) or agnostic (1%), but both saw a 4-percentage-point jump with 5% identifying as each label now.

See also  Most Pastors, Churchgoers See More Than Monthly Attendance as Standard

The largest point jump is among those who are “nothing in particular.” While 6% say they grew up that way, 14% identify as that today.

Still, most Americans say they continue to practice the religion in which they grew up (61%). One in 5 (20%) say they’ve changed religions.

Fewer have left religion completely (18%) and even less say they grew up as an atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular but now belong to a religion (2%).

Yet even among the quarter of Americans who do not identify with a religion (atheists, agnostics, and those who say they are “nothing in particular”), most still describe themselves as a spiritual person.

Almost a quarter of non-religious Americans (23%) say they are “very spiritual,” significantly more than the 14% who are “not spiritual at all.” Around 2 in 5 (39%) say they are moderately spiritual and 23% call themselves slightly spiritual.

Atheists were more likely than other non-religious Americans to say they were not at all spiritual (66%), but around 1 in 3 describe themselves as at least slightly spiritual, including 1% who say they are very spiritual atheists.

Aaron Earls

@Wardrobedoor

Aaron is the senior writer/editor at LifewayResearch.com.

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