How Important Is Religion in Your Life?
We invite you to review the PRRI report "Religious Change in America," discussing the results of a survey conducted in 2023 of 5,600 adults throughout the United States about their experiences with religion. Follows are some of the findings presented in this report:*
Among Americans who attend religious services at least a few times a year, solid majorities report feeling closer to God (90%), experiencing religion in a community (79%), and instilling values in their children (79%) as very or somewhat important reasons for their personal attendance. Americans are less likely to report attending to fulfill a duty (68%) or because of a family tradition (68%) as very or somewhat important reasons.
The report further observed:
A slim majority of Americans (53%) say that religion is the most important (15%) or one among many important things in their lives (38%) in 2023, notably lower than in 2013 when 72% of Americans reported that religion was the most important thing in their lives (27%) or one among many important things (45%). In contrast, a plurality of Americans (45%) say that religion is not as important as other things (19%) or religion is not important at all in their life (26%) in 2023, nearly twice what it was a decade ago when over one in four Americans (27%) reported religion was not as important (14%) or not important at all (13%). (Id. at p. 24).
Take some time to reflect on how you would respond to some of the categories mentioned above. Do you have any family members or friends who are "religiously unaffiliated"? If so, have you ever discussed with them why they are not affilated with any religion? What reasons do you give them for your affilation with a religion?
* Please review the report for other data and findings that detail specific religions, ethnicity, sex, gender, age, education, and political classifications.
About 67% of the adults surveyed identify as Christian, with less than 5% of the adults identifying as members of a non-Christian tradition such as Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindus, and Universalists. About 26% of the adults idenfified themselves as "religiously unaffilated," up from 21% in 2013, of which 17% of these adults describe themselves as "nothing in particular," 4% as atheists, and 5% as agnostics. Four in ten of those who are religiously unaffiliated identify themselves as "spiritual." Only 9% of the religiously unaffiliated agreed with the statement “I am looking for a religion that would be right for me.”
Approximately 18% of the adults surveyed left their religious tradition to become religiously unaffiliated, of which 35% of these adults were previously Catholic. The Catholic Church in America continues to lose more members than it gains. The retention rate for those adults who were raised Catholic in their early childhood and continue to be affiliated with the Catholic Church is 59%.
The religiously unaffiliated adults were requested to provide their reasons for giving up their childhood religion. They were allowed to provide more than one reason, which included: they stopped believing in their religion's teachings (67%); the religion's negative treatment about LGBTQ people (47%); their family was never religious growing up (41%); religion was bad for their mental health (32%); the clergy sexual abuse scandals (31%); and their church or congregation became too focused on politics (20%). Except for the reason given regarding mental health, which first appeared in 2023 survey, the percentages of the other responses were significally increased from those percentages reported in the 2016 survey.
With respect to Church attendance, 24% of the adults stated they attended Church services once a week, with 21% stating they attend Church services once or twice a month or a few times a year. Most notably, however, is that 54% of the adults report they seldom or never attended Church services in 2023, compared to 43% in 2013.
With respect to prayer, 48% of the adults surveyed state they personally pray, outside of religious services, at least once a week, and 16% say they pray at least a few times a year. 34% of the adults state they seldom or never pray. 24% of the adults state they read the Bible or other sacred text once a week or more, and 17% read it once or twice a month or at least a few times a year. 58% state they seldom or never read the Bible or other religious texts.
Regarding making financial contributions to a church or other religious concregation or charity, 15% of the adults state they contribute once a week or more, and 26% donate once or twice a month or a few times a year. 58% of the adults state they seldom or never donate to a church or other religious organization.
As to why Americans attend church or other religious services, the report states: