According to multiple polls, Christianity – with the notable exception of Orthodoxy – has been on the decline in America for years. The latest survey, however, suggests the descent may have leveled off – for now, at least. Is this just a temporary reprieve, or could Christianity be making a comeback?
Pew Research Center and the General Social Survey (GSS) have tracked religious beliefs in America for years – Pew since 2007 and the GSS since 1972. Both show similar results from one year to the next, though the numbers do sometimes vary. When it comes to the trend line, however, they paint identical pictures.
From the early 70s to the early 90s, 90% or so of Americans identified as Christian, with less than 10% (generally around 5%) considering themselves “Religiously unaffiliated.” Then something happened. From 1992 to 1997, Christianity dropped nearly 10%, and those without religion at all climbed by about the same amount. While the descent slowed, it never quite stopped, reaching a low point of around 63% in 2019 – and nearly 30% identified as non-religious.
Then, however, it seemed to level off. The 2020 poll showed a slight increase to 64% for churchgoers, followed by a slight dip to about 60% in 2022 before rising again to 62% and 63% in 2023 and 2024. As of this latest survey, about 7% of non-Christians identify with another religion – about 1.7% for Judaism and 1% each for Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. The vast majority of those who don’t identify as Christian either left religion entirely or never took it up to begin with.
Liberty Nation News previously analyzed the decline in December of last year before it became clear things had leveled off, and some potential reasons were presented. For many, it’s simply a matter of “getting with the times” – whether they’re for it or against it. As society moves away from traditional Judeo-Christian values, people leave the church because it seems antiquated to them. The old beliefs “didn’t age well,” a more progressive person might say.
For others, the fact that so many churches are changing their beliefs is reason enough to leave. After all, most monotheistic religions teach that God doesn’t change: His rules are the same now as they were 100 years ago or 1,000. So if a church changes its stance, either they’re turning their backs on God or saying He has changed his mind. Either way, it doesn’t bode well for maintaining the faith.
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The latter, of course, likely explains the uptick in folks joining Orthodox Christianity. Those made uncomfortable by a changing church – or a changing God – feel right at home with a version of faith that has changed very little – if, indeed, at all – since before the Protestant Reformation.
Beyond those reasons, of course, lies a simpler mathematical factor. Each generation of adults who stop attending church or prioritizing religion in their own lives leads to even more non-religious people as their kids grow up.
But now, for reasons currently unknown, the poll numbers seem to have reached a plateau. The Pew Research Center’s latest outreach was its Religious Landscape Study, which brought in 36,908 respondents. It’s the largest poll the Center conducts, and only three of this magnitude have been conducted over the last 17 years.
The latest findings show that 62% of respondents consider themselves Christians, numbers that are, as Pew put it, “in line with totals seen in the Center’s National Public Opinion Reference Survey that have been conducted since 2020.” Additionally, the portion of Americans who say they pray daily has held between 44% and 46% since 2021. But wait, there’s more. The last few years have also seen a decline in those who consider themselves religiously unaffiliated.
Each successive generation has polled as less religious than the last, and that hasn’t changed with the most recent crop of younglings. So, why is it that the decades-long trend has paused? Many find religion later in life. Could this be the answer to the riddle? Whatever the reason, there’s another question: Is this just a pause, or is it the beginning of a reversal – dare we say, revival? Perhaps it’s just time to have a little faith.