CV NEWS FEED // A new survey found that the majority of Americans say that religion is losing its influence on public life—and half of them think that’s a bad thing.
According to a February Pew Research Center survey, 80% of American adults said that religion’s influence is declining, making it the highest percentage of that answer in the history of the survey.
Pew also found that 49% said that religion is losing influence on public life with negative consequences, while 8% said that religion is gaining influence with positive results.
“Together, a combined 57% of U.S adults – a clear majority – express a positive view of religion’s influence on American life,” Pew reported.
Pew also asked participants how they viewed the relationship between religious beliefs and American culture.
“Overall, there are widespread signs of unease with religion’s trajectory in American life,” Pew reported:
This dissatisfaction is not just among religious Americans. Rather, many religious and nonreligious Americans say they feel that their religious beliefs put them at odds with mainstream culture, with the people around them and with the other side of the political spectrum.
Pew found that 48% of adults feel conflict between the mainstream culture and their religious beliefs, up from 42% in 2020.
“29% say they think of themselves as religious minorities, up from 24% in 2020,” Pew continued.
Forty-one percent of participants said that it is “best to avoid discussing religion at all if someone disagrees with you,” which is an increase from the 33% who said the same in 2019.
Pew also asked participants whether it is important to have a president with strong religious beliefs, to which about half responded “very” or “somewhat” important. However, only 13% thought that President Joe Biden is very religious, while just 4% thought the same thing about former President Donald Trump.
Almost all participants (94%) agreed that it is important to have a president who lives a moral and ethical life. The survey found that Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to value religious qualities in a president. According to the survey, Christians are significantly more likely than religiously-unaffiliated individuals to value the same religious qualities.
The survey asked participants whether religious values should be included in the government or public schools, resulting in an almost equal split between right and left-wing Americans.
“Most religiously unaffiliated Americans (72%) and Democrats (72%) say conservative Christians have gone too far,” Pew reported. “And most Christians (63%) and Republicans (76%) say secular liberals have gone too far.”
Despite only 16% of American adults saying that the government should stop enforcing the separation of church and state, 49% answered that the Bible should have either “a great deal” or “some influence” on U.S. laws.
Additionally, 44% said that the government should promote Christian moral values, while 39% disagreed and said that the government should not promote such values.
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