28% of Americans Say They Have No Religious Affiliation, Survey Shows

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A new survey shows that 28% of Americans would check the box “None” if asked to indicate their religious affiliation, compared to 16% in 2007. The survey was conducted by the Pew Research Center between Aug. 6-31 last year, with 11,201 respondents who are members of Pew’s American Trends Panel.

According to the study, the religious “None” section of American society is now larger than both the Catholic section (23%) and the evangelical Protestant section (24%). Most “Nones” said they were raised in a religious setting, “usually Christianity,” Pew said in its report.

Of the 3,317 “none” respondents (658 atheists, 678 agnostics and 1,981 respondents who describe their religion as “nothing in particular”), only 29% totally rejected the idea that there is a higher power of some kind. However, 90% said they never attend any religious services.

“Not only have they shaken off religious labels, they also have largely shaken off involvement in churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious organizations,” Pew said in its report. “Many also bring up criticisms of religious institutions or people, including 47% who say that one extremely or very important reason why they are not religious is that they dislike religious organizations.”

Forty-three percent of “nones” said religion does more harm than good in society; 41% of “nones” said religion does equal amounts of good and harm. The survey also found that 69% of “nones” are under the age of fifty.

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