Poll Finds Most Americans Believe Role Of Religion Is Declining In US

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A new poll by the Pew Research Center shows that 80% of US adults now believe that the role of religion in public life is diminishing. The poll was conducted Feb. 13-25, 2024, among a nationally representative sample of 12,693 American adults.

Among those who believe the influence of religion is waning, 49% said they felt this is a bad thing. Just 8% of respondents said they believe the influence of religion is actually growing, and that this is a good thing. The poll found that 48% of US adults feel “a great deal” of or “some” conflict between their religious beliefs and mainstream American culture, up from 42% in 2020, Pew said.

Taken during a presidential election year, the survey found that for around half of American adults, it is “very” or “somewhat” important to have a president with strong religious beliefs, even if different from their own. Thirteen percent of respondents said they think President Joe Biden is very religious; 4% said this about former President Donald Trump, the only Republican candidate for president in 2024.

According to the poll, Black Protestants and Jewish Americans – largely Democratic groups – hold favorable views of Biden (66% and 62%, respectively) and unfavorable views of Trump (80% and 79%, respectively).

Largely Republican, 67% of White evangelical Protestants were found to hold favorable views of Trump, with 86% of this group holding unfavorable opinions of Biden.
Muslims and Catholics were found to be quite evenly divided in favoring or not favoring the two presidential candidates.

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