PRINCETON, NJ – Even as the United States remains a very religious nation in terms of belief in God, Americans have become increasingly less tied to formal religion in recent decades, according to a new
Gallup poll.
The percentage of Americans saying they do not have a specific religious identity has grown from near zero in the 1950s to 16 percent this year and last.
The number of Americans with no formal religious identity began to increase in the 1970s, reaching 11 percent by 1990, the polling organization reported Sunday. After some fluctuations over the last two decades, 16 percent of Americans now say they have no religious identity or have an otherwise undesignated response.
But Lack of identification with a formal religious group does not necessarily mean these Americans believe religion is irrelevant, the Gallup pollsters reported. “One can remain quite religious, or at least spiritual, while at the same time eschewing attachment to or identity with a formal religion or denomination.”
Read the entire story at the
Gallup website.