The Number Of Americans With “No Religion” Has Soared 266% Over The Last 3 Decades

Authored by Michael Snyder via The End of The American Dream blog,

Over the last 30 years, there has been a mass exodus out of organized religion in the United States.  Each year the needle has only moved a little bit, but over the long-term what we have witnessed has been nothing short of a seismic shift.  Never before in American history have we seen such dramatic movement away from the Christian faith, and this has enormous implications for the future of our nation.  According to a survey that was just released, the percentage of Americans that claim to have “no religion” has increased by 266 percent since 1991…

The number of Americans who identify as having no religion has risen 266 percent since 1991, to now tie statistically with the number of Catholics and Evangelicals, according to a new survey.

People with no religion – known as ‘nones’ among statisticians – account for 23.1 percent of the U.S. population, while Catholics make up 23 percent and Evangelicals account for 22.5 percent, according to the General Social Survey.

In other words, the “nones” are now officially the largest religious group in the United States.

At one time it would have been extremely difficult to imagine that one day the “nones” would someday surpass evangelical Christians, but it has actually happened.

And the biggest movement that we have seen has been among our young people.  According to a different survey, two-thirds of Christian young adults say that they stopped going to church at some point between the ages of 18 and 22

Large numbers of young adults who frequently attended Protestant worship services in high school are dropping out of church.

Two-thirds of young people say they stopped regularly going to church for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22, a new LifeWay Research surveyshows.

These are the exact same patterns that we saw happen in Europe, and now most of those countries are considered to be “post-Christian societies”.

The young adults of today are going to be the leaders of tomorrow, and they have a much higher percentage of “nones” than the population as a whole.  According to a study that was conducted a while back by PRRI, 39 percent of our young adults are “religiously unaffiliated” at this point…

Today, nearly four in ten (39%) young adults (ages 18-29) are religiously unaffiliated—three times the unaffiliated rate (13%) among seniors (ages 65 and older). While previous generations were also more likely to be religiously unaffiliated in their twenties, young adults today are nearly four times as likely as young adults a generation ago to identify as religiously unaffiliated. In 1986, for example, only 10% of young adults claimed no religious affiliation.

To go from 10 percent during Ronald Reagan’s second term to 39 percent today is an absolutely colossal shift.

Right now, only about 27 percent of U.S. Millennials attend church on a regular basis.  Most of them simply have no interest in being heavily involved in organized religion.

And even the young people that are involved in church do not seem very keen on sharing their faith with others.  According to one of the most shocking surveys that I have seen in a long time, 47 percent of Millennials that consider themselves to be “practicing Christians” believe that it is “wrong” to share the gospel with others

A new study from the California-based firm Barna Group, which compiles data on Christian trends in American culture, has revealed a staggering number of American millennials think evangelism is wrong.

The report, commissioned by the discipleship group Alpha USA, showed a whopping 47 percent of millennials — born between 1984 and 1998 — “agree at least somewhat that it is wrong to share one’s personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith.”

These numbers are hard to believe, but they are from some of the most respected pollsters in the entire country.

Politically, these trends indicate that America is likely to continue to move to the left.  Those that have no religious affiliation are much, much more likely to be Democrats, and so this exodus away from organized religion is tremendous news for the Democratic Party.

In a previous article, I documented the fact that somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 churches in the United States are dying each year.

That means that more than 100 will die this week.

And thousands more are teetering on the brink.  In fact, most churches in America have less than 100 people attending each Sunday

A majority of churches have fewer than 100 people attending services each Sunday and have declined or nearly flatlined in membership growth, according to a new study from Exponential by LifeWay Research.

The study, which was conducted to help churches better understand growth in the pews, showed that most Protestant churches are not doing well attracting new Christian converts, reporting an average of less than one each month.

But even among all the bad news, there are some promising signs for the Christian faith.  The home church movement if flourishing all over the country, and many of those home fellowships are focused on getting back to the roots of the Christian faith.  All throughout history there have been relentless attempts to destroy the Christian faith, and yet it is still the largest faith in the entire world.

However, there is no doubt that Christianity is in decline throughout the western world, and churches are dying one after another.

This is what one pastor had to say about the slow death of his church

‘My church is on the decline,’ he said. ‘We had 50 (congregants) in 2005 and now we have 15. We’re probably going to have to close (in a few years).’

‘Mainline Christianity is dying,’ he added. ‘It’s at least going away. It makes me feel more comfortable that it’s not my fault or my church’s fault. It’s part of a bigger trend that’s happening.’

John Adams, the second president of the United States, once said the following about our form of government…

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

As America has turned away from the Christian faith, we have become steadily less moral and steadily less religious.

If we continue down this path, many believe that the future of our nation is going to be quite bleak indeed.

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Hardscrabble Farmer
Hardscrabble Farmer

“Over the last 30 years, there has been a mass exodus out of organized religion in the United States… Never before in American history have we seen such dramatic movement away from the Christian faith, and this has enormous implications for the future of our nation. ”

Cart/Horse

Organized religion has made a mass exodus away from Christian faith. Big, big difference. People aren’t leaving Christian faith, they’ve been expelled from the sepulchres of the dead, those whitewashed tombs called The Church or Religion to pursue their faith and continue their walk with God at the family and friends level, just like it was in the beginning.

overthecliff
overthecliff

Preach it farmer.

wxtwxtr
wxtwxtr

And perhaps a mass exodus INTO an organized religion called “Government”? A conversion of the faithful to a different God?

MrLiberty
MrLiberty

Sadly, the vast majority of those still in “organized religions,” especially Christianity, have embraced and worship the almighty state as god too. Show up on a Sunday before one of the many “war worship holidays” and just see how the war machine and its enablers are worshiped and praised.

Ghost

… and with the endless recognitions for the men and women who serve (thank you for your service!)

mygirl

I find it amusing at how fanatical atheists are in their non-belief. Their vehemence and insistence that no one be allowed to have or even voice a belief in God rivals any religious fanatic. Big Christian Churches are nothing more than money worshipping emporiums who push whatever social agenda is popular. Christ himself tossed the moneylenders out of the temple but, following the true Christ message isn’t real popular, especially around leftists and progressives. They protect Islam and persecute Christians, but then, Islam allows for pederasty and beastiality, condones and reveres patriarchy and allows for polygamy, so there’s that. It even condones homosexuality so long as a little boy is the ‘bottom.’

TC
TC

Agreed. The “church” abandoned Logos by the mid 1960’s. The rest is history.

Chubby Bubbles
Chubby Bubbles

Abandoned Logos how? “In the Beginning, was the Word..”

Words are not real. Words manipulate and deceive. There is nothing more apropos than a religion coming right out and telling you: get ready, this is a line of bull****.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Couldn’t agree more.
I’ve asked this question to dozens of Evangelicals as well as a few Catholics, “Jesus said to go and make disciples, so what did he have in mind?” That’s when the trouble starts. I usually follow up with something like, “Everyone has their opinion, but wouldn’t it make sense for Jesus to give us a description or recipe for disciplemaking so that we would all be on the same page?”
I’ve asked missionaries, pastors, church planters, elders, deacons, and they all skirt around the answer or simply say, “No.”

For the most part, we’ve turned Making Disciples into our own image and not what Jesus intended and people are fed up with it.

Rossa
Rossa

People have woken up to the difference between true Christianity and Churchianity, which is just for show. Not the same thing at all.

wxtwxtr
wxtwxtr

Well why not? I ask my religious friends to bring God to happy hour and buy me a beer. Ha.
Should be a piece of cake for The All Knowing All Powerful. He’s have a convert.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East, three factions of fanatics, battling each other over Irrational Absolutes, all claim that their God is on their side.

And here in the USSA, belief in the un-knowable and un-provable has spawned a new/old religion, where we are ruled by psychopaths committing mass armed robbery (irs), mass theft (fed), and massive violent domination (regs), all in the name of good. Black robed priests rule on blasphemy from their alters and imprison the innocent for violating the whims of the mob. Handsome priests preach communitarianism to their flock of believers in charity. Occasional Cortex and her handlers warn of the end of the world unless we repent and tithe. Everywhere we look, the mother/father figures of irrationality rule. Civilization? Not until the insanity ends.

yahsure
yahsure

yeah, and look at society. Its a mess and most people have some really wacky beliefs and thinking. Hollywood and the Democrat socialist seem to be brainwashing the masses. Little values and morals.

Chubby Bubbles
Chubby Bubbles

When was it not a mess? Back when* they were flaying people as a matter of course?

*I recall that this is still a punishment in certain, highly-moral, countries.

overthecliff
overthecliff

I haven’t been to church for many years but remain a believer in Jesus Christ. Main line churches stopped being Christian years ago and became commie and queer social clubs milking money from the elderly. Catholics are satanic pedophiles many evangelical cults large and small preach prosperity gospel or positive thinking. Very few places to hear real gospel. I get more from GCP on this site than from most churches. I trust Jesus not the churches of their father the devil.

Erisa
Erisa

Amen

grace country pastor

We are the church which is His physical body on earth. The church is saved people not religions or buildings. Without the “foolishness” of preaching people won’t be saved and the church won’t grow. It’s Gods word which has the power to save and it’s Gods word that religion has abandoned.

Romans 10:17 KJB… “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:21 KJB… “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

The world, by its own wisdom (big bang evolution…) knows not its Creator. None are so blind than those who will not see.

Grace and peace…

MrLiberty
MrLiberty

Millions walked away from the corrupt Catholic Church during the Reformation, and in looking at Catholic statistics the numbers would likely have been atrocious. But millions instead found religious beliefs they actually could embrace. Organized religion is a political/power/money-based affair. “Belonging” to a church has little to nothing to do with faith or morality.

Personally, one should be far more concerned with the decline of basic morals throughout our society. The immunity to things like murder, theft, covetousness, etc. is certainly a big reason why state worship is seriously on the rise.

e.d. ott
e.d. ott

In the face of obvious public immorality, a logical substitute is required for an absentee God who doesn’t seem to physically manifest Himself in the World. This seems to be a prevailing sentiment among many because their spiritual level hasn’t grown enough discernment to filter the message of God from the noise of secular humanist garbage.
The personal relationship to God has been overlooked. People want to associate with congregations as a group support mechanism for faith when it actually starts with, and resides within the individual.
Faith isn’t derived from some collective dictat of opinions from fools gathered around some degenerate Pope, it comes from the words and deeds of a heretical Jewish carpenter who was, and still is the One True Way.
Happy Easter everyone. He lives.

e.d. ott
e.d. ott

Yeah, I knew the Muslims and their tag-along snowflake friends would have a problem with this.

Not Sure

It would have been more ironic if the number was 666%, just sayin’.

KaD
KaD

Is this really surprising considering the decades long pedophile scandal and the degeneration of the church into progressivism? I was at a local church for a craft sale, all along the walls they had signs promoting divershitty.

Chubby Bubbles
Chubby Bubbles

That’s true in my area, too. They are just adapting to the next gov./socially-approved grift, including bringing in as many Moslems as possible. Then there’s the black-baby-selling…

Look, religion is just the foremost scam up there with all the other confidence scams people fall prey to.

Stucky

Q: What does Michael Snyder have in common with the BLS?

A: Both spread massive bullshit lies for a living.

Bad Brad
Bad Brad

Please expand on your comment. I found this article to be spot on.
It should be a wake up call to the many churches in our nation that
are doubling down on stupid. The statistics appear to be conservative
if anything. What I have noted is many of the mainline churches the
past 25 years are now being pastored by femiNazis. The only male
leadership being tolerated are light in the loafers. Go to a worship
service anywhere and most worshipers age resemble a Ham Radio Fest.
The super fun rock band churches are exempt from this example.

Stucky

My comment is mostly about Michael Snyder in general …. and not so much about the article.

I generally agree with the article. Religion is a good thing in terms of keeping a society civil, cohesive, and even coherent.

There was an editorial in the NY Post a couple weeks ago contrasting two counties in Iowa. One county had the most churches as a percentage of the population … the other county had the least churches. As you would expect, the county with the most churches was FAR more peaceful and whole, had FAR less crime, and FAR fewer free-shitters. I think church attendance is good for America and I also think it’s a bad omen to see it decline so sharply.

As a negative example, just look at Europe today. As a positive example, just look at the revival of Christian orthodoxy in Russia …. it’s working wonders there.

But, Snyder — the person — has presented his THE-WORLD-IS-ABOUT-TO-END bullshit for over a decade. He seems undeterred that his prophecies have NEVER come to pass. My conclusion: he’s a bullshit click-bait artist.

karl
karl

There is no god. There never has been. To tell anyone that you think there is marks you as a fool , or, mentally ill.

e.d. ott
e.d. ott

Is your last name Marx?

Anonymous
Anonymous

A little before Marx’s time:

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.
—Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Chubby Bubbles
Chubby Bubbles

Ok, here’s a question.. I’d guess a lot of readers here don’t really like the idea of “moral relativism”. At the same time, my observation (and I think this holds true in polling) is that religionists tend to think that any religion is better than atheism, even if they think all other religions than theirs are 100% untrue. So how is that not relativistic? This guy over here who believes in the elephant god Ganesh is “better” than someone who just doesn’t believe in anything supernatural…

rhs jr
rhs jr

I think that the explanations of Charles Darwin for the Evolutions of Species become a pit for Christian Churches because of the Luddite Preachers who led their foolish flocks astray because they were all ignorant of Science. As young people learned the Science of Biology and rejected the Myths of Genesis, some also questioned the other myths of the Bible and made the mistake of throwing the baby (religious Truths) out with the bath water (Biblical BS). The Bible was written by men and fallible, not by God and infallible. The OT contains a lot of rocks, some jewels and a lot of filler; the NT contains a lot of Jewels, some rocks and filler. If we only had the Bible, I’d be an Atheist. Some supernatural events in my life made me a Christian; and supernatural events have also happened to thousands of others who have written about their experiences. You don’t have to see a UFO, Bigfoot, Ghost, Demon etc, Jesus or an Angel yourself to know they are real. The Gospels are not perfect but they are the best reports we have of Jesus’ life 2,000 years ago. Christianity still has many mysteries but is the true religion; Jesus is the Lord of Lords and God’s Savior for Mankind. The NT said there will be a Great Falling Away before the Last Days, and I believe we are there; come out of Her, My People.

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