It found that about a quarter (26 percent) of Americans currently identify as religiously unaffiliated, a number that has grown over the past decade and is now the largest single faith-affiliated group in the United States. This is similar to what other surveys and studies, including Pew Research, have found.
PRRI found that since 2013 the number of self-described “nothing specific” remained stable, but the number of self-identified atheists doubled (from 2% to 4%) and those who claimed to be agnostic more than doubled (from 2% to 5% .).
This study examines the faith traditions from which these unaffiliated people come.
“35 percent were former Catholics, 35 percent. former mainline evangelical Protestants and only about 16 percent. former evangelicals, says PRRI Executive Director Melissa Deckman. – And indeed few of these people are actually looking for an organized religion that works for them. We found it to be 9 percent.”
The fact that these people aren’t looking for religion has implications for how, and whether, houses of worship should try to attract new people, Deckman said.
Far fewer religious communities change among black Protestants and Jews, who are generally satisfied with their faith traditions and tend to stay within them.
When it comes to the reasons people leave their religions, the PRRI found that about two-thirds (67 percent) of people who leave a faith say they did so because they simply stopped believing in the teachings of that religion.
Almost half (47 percent) of dropout respondents cited negative training about how to treat LGBTQ people. These numbers were especially high in one group.
“Negative religious teaching about LGBTQ people is causing younger Americans to leave the church,” Deckman says. – We found that about 60 percent among Americans younger than 30 who have left religion say they quit because of the teachings of a religious tradition, a much higher rate than among older Americans.”
Hispanic Americans are also more likely to report leaving religion because of LGBTQ issues. Other reasons cited for leaving include sexual abuse by clergy and excessive involvement in politics.
The new PRRI report is based on a survey of more than 5,600 adults conducted at the end of last year.
About a third of religiously unaffiliated Americans say they no longer join their childhood religion because it harmed their mental health. LGBTQ respondents were the most likely to say so.
The survey also asked about the prevalence of the so-called “prosperity gospel.” It was determined that 31 percent of respondents agreed with the statement that “God always rewards believers with good health, financial success and fulfilling personal relationships.”
Black Americans are more likely than other racial or ethnic groups to share these theological beliefs. And Republicans are more likely than independents and Democrats to hold such beliefs, writes NPR.
Tags: antiLGBTQ teachings sexual abuse people increasingly abandoning religions
