Religion in the United States

This article primarily covers the current status of religion in the United States. For information about the historical role of religion, see History of religion in the United States.

Religion in the United States is remarkable both for its high adherence level, compared to other developed countries, as well as for its diversity. The First Amendment to the country's Constitution prevents the Federal government from making any "law respecting an establishment of religion", and guarantees the free exercise of religion. The Supreme Court has interpreted this as preventing the government from having any authority in religion. A majority of Americans report that religion plays a "very important" role in their lives, a proportion unusual among developed nations, although similar to the other nations of the Americas.^[1] Many faiths have flourished in the United States, including both later imports spanning the country's multicultural immigrant heritage, as well as those founded within the country; these have led the United States to become the most religiously diverse country in the world.^[2]

The majority of Americans (76%) identify themselves as Christians, mostly within Protestant and Catholic denominations, accounting for 51% and 25% of the population respectively.^[3] Non-Christian religions (including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism), collectively make up about 4% to 5% of the adult population.^[4][5][3] Another 15% of the adult population identifies as having no religious belief or no religious affiliation.^[3] According to the American Religious Identification Survey, religious belief varies considerably across the country: 59% of Americans living in Western states (the "Unchurched Belt") report a belief in God, yet in the South (the "Bible Belt") the figure is as high as 86%.^[3][6]

Several of the original Thirteen Colonies were established by settlers who wished to practice their own religion without discrimination: the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established by English Puritans, Pennsylvania by Irish and English Quakers, Maryland by English and Irish Catholics, and Virginia by English Anglicans. Although some individual states retained established religious confessions well into the nineteenth century, the United States was the first nation to have no official state-endorsed religion.^[7] Modeling the provisions concerning religion within the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, the framers of the Constitution rejected any religious test for office, and the First Amendment specifically denied the federal government any power to enact any law respecting either an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise, thus protecting any religious organization, institution, or denomination from government interference. The decision was mainly influenced by European Rationalist and Protestant ideals, but was also a consequence of the pragmatic concerns of minority religious groups and small states that did not want to be under the power or influence of a national religion that did not represent them.^[8]

Contents 1 Main religious preferences of Americans 1.1 Christianity 1.2 No religion 1.3 Judaism 1.4 Buddhism 1.5 Islam 1.6 Hinduism 1.7 Baha'i 1.8 Sikhism 1.9 Unitarian Universalism 1.10 Native American religious practice 1.11 Others 1.12 Denominations and sects founded in the U.S. 2 Belief in God 3 Church attendance 3.1 By state 4 Religion and politics 5 Religious bodies 6 ARIS findings 7 Ethnicity 8 ARDA survey 9 See also 10 References 10.1 Bibliography 10.2 Further reading 11 External links

Main religious preferences of Americans

• Christianity: (58.3%^[9] to 82.3%)
• Unaffiliated, including atheist or agnostic (11.6% to 37.3%^[9])
• Judaism (1.2%^[3] to 2.2%^[9])
• Islam (0.6%^[9][3] to 1.6%)
• Buddhism (0.5%^[3] to 0.9%)
• Hinduism (0.4%)
• other (1.4%)

Christianity

The largest religion in the US is Christianity, practiced by the majority of the population (76% in 2008^[3]). From those queried, roughly 51.3% of Americans are Protestants, 25% are Catholics, and 1.7% are Mormons (the name commonly used to refer to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and 1.6% to various other Christian denominations.^[10] Christianity was introduced during the period of European colonization.

By the 2010 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, from which members in the United States are combined with Canadian members, and of the National Council of Churches, the five largest denominations are^[11]:

• The Catholic Church, 68,115,001 members
• The Southern Baptist Convention, 16,228,438 members
• The United Methodist Church, 7,853,987 members
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5,974,041 members
• The Church of God in Christ, 5,499,875 members

Due to its large population and history, the United States has numerically more Christians (and more Protestants) than any other country in the world. Other countries, however, have higher percentages of Christians (and of Protestants) within their total populations.

The Hispanics/Latinos, Irish, Highland Scots, Italians, Dutch, Flemish, Polish, French, Spanish, Hungarians, German, and Lebanese brought Catholicism, while Northern European peoples introduced Protestantism. Among Protestants, adherents to Anglicanism, Baptism, Calvinism, Puritanism, Presbyterianism, Lutheranism, Quakerism, Amish, Methodism and Moravian Church were the first to settle to the US, spreading their faith in the new country.

Greek, Ukrainian, Russian, Central and Eastern European, Middle Eastern, Ethiopian, and South Indian immigrants brought Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy to the United States. These branches of Christianity have since spread beyond the boundaries of ethnic immigrant communities and now include multi-ethnic membership and parishes.

Since then, American Christians developed in their own path. During the Great Awakenings interdenominational evangelicalism and Pentecostalism emerged, along with new Protestant denominations such as Adventism, and non-Protestant movements such as the Restoration Movement (which over time separated into the Churches of Christ, the Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)), the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, commonly referred to as Jehovah's Witnesses, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also commonly referred to as Mormonism.

Today, with 16.6 million adherents (5.3% of the total population), Southern Baptist is the largest of more than 200^[13] distinctly named Protestant denominations.^[14] Of the total population, Evangelicals comprise 26.3%, and Mainline Protestants 16%.^[15]

The strength of various sects varies greatly in different regions of the country, with rural parts of the South (except Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, and the Hispanic community, which both consist mainly of Catholics), having many evangelicals but very few Catholics, while urbanized areas of the north Atlantic states and Great Lakes, as well as many industrial and mining towns, are heavily Catholic, though still quite mixed, especially due to the heavily Protestant African-American communities. As of 1990, nearly 72% of the population of Utah was Mormon, as well as 26% of neighboring Idaho.^[16] Lutheranism is most prominent in the Upper Midwest, with North Dakota having the highest percentage, 35% according to a 2001 survey.^[17]

Despite its status as the most widespread and influential religion in the US, Christianity is undergoing a continuous relative decline in demographics. While the absolute number of Christians rose from 1990 to 2008 as the overall population increased, the actual percentage of Christians dropped from 86.2% to 76.0%.^[3] A nationwide telephone interview of 1,002 adults conducted by The Barna Group found that 70% of American adults believe that God is "the all-powerful, all-knowing creator of the universe who still rules it today," and that 9% of all American adults and 0.5% young adults hold to what the survey defined as a "biblical worldview."^[18]

No religion

A 2001 survey directed by Dr. Ariela Keysar for the City University of New York indicated that, amongst the more than 100 categories of response, "no religious identification" had the greatest increase in population in both absolute and percentage terms. This category included atheists, agnostics, humanists, deists, and others with no theistic religious beliefs or practices. Figures are up from 14.3 million in 1990 to 34.2 million in 2008, representing a proportionate increase from 8% of the total in 1990 to 15% in 2008.^[3] Another nation-wide study puts the figure of unaffiliated persons at 16.1%.^[19]

A study at the London School of Economics and Political Science, based on a U.S. sample, showed that Americans who are atheist and liberal tend to have higher IQs by an average of 6-11 points. In addition, American men who identify as atheist and liberal are more likely to be sexually exclusive than average.^[20]

In a 2006 nationwide poll, University of Minnesota researchers found that despite an increasing acceptance of religious diversity, atheists were generally distrusted by other Americans, who rated them below Muslims, recent immigrants and other minority groups in "sharing their vision of American society". They also associated atheists with undesirable attributes such as criminal behavior, rampant materialism, and cultural elitism.^[21][22] However, the same study also reported that “The researchers also found acceptance or rejection of atheists is related not only to personal religiosity, but also to one’s exposure to diversity, education and political orientation--with more educated, East and West Coast Americans more accepting of atheists than their Midwestern counterparts.”^[23]

Judaism

After Christianity and no-religion, Judaism is the third-largest religious affiliation in the US, though this identification is not necessarily indicative of religious beliefs or practices.^[3] A significant number of people identify themselves as American Jews on ethnic and cultural grounds, rather than religious ones. For example, 19% of self-identified American Jews believe God does not exist, notwithstanding God's existence to be integral to Jewish religious beliefs.^[24] The 2001 ARIS study projected from its sample that there are about 5.3 million adults in the American Jewish population: 2.83 million adults (1.4% of the U.S. adult population) are estimated to be adherents of Judaism; 1.08 million are estimated to be adherents of no religion; and 1.36 million are estimated to be adherents of a religion other than Judaism.^[25][26]

Jews have been present in what is now the US since the 17th century, though large scale immigration did not take place until the 19th century, largely as a result of persecutions in parts of Eastern Europe. The CIA Fact Book estimates about 2% of Americans belong to this group.^[4] Approximately 25% of this population lives in New York City.^[27]

According to the 2001 National Jewish Population Survey,^[28] 4.3 million American Jews have some sort of strong connection to the Jewish community, whether religious or cultural. Jewishness is generally considered an ethnic identity as well as a religious one. Among the 4.3 million American Jews described as "strongly connected" to Judaism, over 80% have some sort of active engagement with Judaism, ranging from attendance at daily prayer services on one end of the spectrum to as little as attending Passover Seders or lighting Hanukkah candles on the other. Of these 4.3 million strongly connected Jews, 46% belong to a synagogue. Among those who belong to a synagogue, 38% are members of Reform synagogues, 33% Conservative, 22% Orthodox, 2% Reconstructionist, and 5% other types. The survey also discovered that Jews in the Northeast and Midwest are generally more observant than Jews in the South or West. Reflecting a trend also observed among other religious groups, Jews in the Northwestern United States are typically the least observant.

In recent years, there has been a noticeable trend among previously secular American Jews, called baalei teshuva ("returners", see also Repentance in Judaism), returning to a more religious, in most cases, Orthodox, style of observance. It is uncertain how widespread or demographically important this movement is at present.

The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their US-born descendants. There are, however, small numbers of older (and some recently arrived) communities of Sephardi Jews with roots tracing back to 15th century Iberia (Spain, Portugal, and North Africa).

There are Mizrahi Jews (from the Middle East, Caucasia and Central Asia), as well as much smaller numbers of Ethiopian Jews, Indian Jews, Kaifeng Jews and others from various smaller Jewish ethnic divisions.

Buddhism

Buddhism entered the US during the 19th century with the arrival of the first immigrants from Eastern Asia. The first Buddhist temple was established in San Francisco in 1853 by Chinese Americans.

During the late 19th century Buddhist missionaries from Japan came to the US. Simultaneously to these processes, US intellectuals started to take interest in Buddhism.

The first prominent US citizen to publicly convert to Buddhism was Henry Steel Olcott. An event that contributed to strengthen Buddhism in the US was the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893, which was attended by many Buddhist delegates sent from India, China, Japan, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

The early 20th century was characterized by a continuation of the tendencies with roots in the 19th century. The second half, by contrast, saw the emergence of new approaches, and the move of Buddhism into the mainstream making itself a mass and social religious phenomenon.

Many foreign associations and teachers - such as Soka Gakkai and Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama (for Tibetan Buddhism) - started to organize missionary activities, while US converts established the first Western-based Buddhist institutions, temples and worship groups.

Estimates of the number of Buddhists in the United States vary between 0.5%^[3] and 0.9%^[4][29].

Islam

American Islam effectively began with the arrival of African slaves. It is estimated that about 10% of African slaves transported to the United States were Muslim.^[30] Most, however, became Christians, and significant Muslim numbers awaited the arrival of immigrant populations from Arabic and East Asian Muslim areas. Islam also gained a higher profile through the Nation of Islam, and American sect whose prominent converts included Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, both of whom later converted to Sunni Islam.^[31] However, the oldest Muslim community to establish in the country was the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, in 1921, which pre-dates Nation of Islam.^[32][33] In recent years Siraj Wahhaj was the first Muslim who had offered an invocation to the United States House of Representatives in 1991,^[34] and Warith Deen Mohammed was the first Muslim to give an invocation in the U.S. Senate in 1992.^[35] The first Muslim to have been elected in Congress was Keith Ellison in 2006,^[36] followed by Andre Carson in 2008.^[37]

Research indicates that Muslims in the US are generally more assimilated and prosperous than Muslims in Europe.^[38][39] Surveys also suggest, however, that they are less assimilated than other American subcultural and religious communities, especially after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.^[40] Like other subcultural and religious communities, the Islamic community has generated its own political organizations and charity organizations.

According to some sources, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States,^[41][42][43] Much of the growth has been driven by immigration, and a comparatively high birth rate. Conversions also figure in this growth, with a quarter of American Muslims being converts, almost entirely African-American.^[40] Muslim immigration is rising as in 2005 alone more people from Islamic countries became legal permanent US residents than in any year in the previous two decades.^[44][45] The number of Muslims in the US is somewhat controversial. The highest, generally accepted estimate of Muslims in the United States is 2.5 million as of 2009 (0.8% of the total population).^[46] Some sources mention estimates as high as 6-7 million.^[47][48] (President Obama in a 2009 speech in Egypt, stated that there were nearly 7 million Muslims in the US.^[49]) This would make Islam the second most popular religion in the US after Christianity. Such estimates were accepted by media for some time, but any empirical basis for these higher numbers is not documented.^[50][51]

Hinduism

The first time Hinduism entered the US is not clearly identifiable. However, large groups of Hindus immigrated from India and other Asian countries since the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. During the 1960s and 1970s Hinduism exercised fascination contributing to the development of New Age thought. During the same decades the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (a Vaishnavite Hindu reform organization) was founded in the US.

According to recent surveys, estimates for Hindus in the US suggest they number nearly 800 thousand people or about 0.4% of the total population^[19][26] .

Hindu religion is growing in the US. Hinduism is expanding in popularity and influence on the public life.^[52] In 2004 the Hindu American Foundation - a national institution protecting rights the Hindu community of US - was founded.

Baha'i

The United States is estimated to have the second largest Bahá'í community. An official Baha'i estimate in March 2010 was 167,403 members, excluding Alaska and Hawai'i. One unofficial independent study, however, claims there are over 700,000 Baha'is in the USA.^[53] The Bahá'í Faith has a long history in the Americas, particularly in the United States, where it was established in 1894 by a Lebanese Bahá'í immigrant to the United States, Ibrahim Kheiralla.^[54]

The cornerstone for the Bahá'í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois was brought to the site by Nettie Tobin and accepted in 1912 by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during his only visit to the United States and Canada. Construction began in 1921 and was completed in 1953, with a delay of several years during the Great Depression and World War II. The Wilmette House of Worship is the largest and the oldest surviving Bahá'í House of Worship. Known by Baha'is as the "Mother Temple of the West" and formally as the "Bahá'í House of Worship for the North American Continent", it stands in north suburban Cook County, on the shores of Lake Michigan, at . The cladding is made of white portland cement concrete with both clear and white quartz aggregate. It has received numerous design awards, and is a prominent Chicago-area landmark. In 1978, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.^[55]

Sikhism

Sikhs have been a part of the American populace for more than 130 years. Around 1900, the state of Punjab of British India was hit hard by British practices of mercantilism. Many Sikhs emigrated to the United States, and began arriving to work on farms in California. They traveled via Hong Kong to Angel Island, California, the western counterpart to Ellis Island in New York.^[56]

"Some Sikhs worked in lumber mills of Oregon or in railroad construction and for some Sikhs it was on a railway line, which allowed other Sikhs who were working as migrant laborers to come into the town on festival days."^[57]

"The first Sikh Gurdwara was built in Stockton, California; the Gurdwara was created in 1912 with joint efforts of Sardar Vasakha Singh and Bhai Jawala Singh. It was in September 1912 when land was purchased on South Granth Street in Stockton for the use of the Gurdwara. A small frame house that was already standing on the lot was used as the main building of the Gurdwara. This building still stands still where a library is now implemented. A Nishan Sahib was also hoisted for the first time at the Gurdwara. Baba Vasakha Singh and Baba Jawala Singh Thathian of Amritsar Sahib were appointed as the first Granthi Singh Jis of the Gurdwara."^[58]

Unitarian Universalism

Unitarian Universalism (UUism) came into existence as a unique religion when the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) was founded in 1961 as a consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church in America. Unitarian Universalism is a theologically liberal religious movement characterized by its support of a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning." Unitarian Universalism is a covenantal religion. Members do not share a creed; rather they are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth. Unitarian Universalists draw on many different sources and have a wide range of beliefs and practices.

Being historically derived from Unitarianism and Universalism, Unitarian Universalism traces its roots to Christian Protestantism, however, the theological significance of both Unitarianism and Universalism had significantly expanded beyond the traditional understanding prior to their decision to combine their efforts at the continental level as Unitarian Universalists. Many UUs appreciate and value aspects of Islamic, Christian and Jewish spirituality, but the extent to which the elements of any particular faith tradition are incorporated into one's personal spiritual practices is a matter of personal choice in keeping with Unitarian Universalism's creedless, non-dogmatic approach to spirituality and faith development.

As a result of these historical roots, Unitarian Universalist congregations and fellowships tend to retain some Christian traditions such as Sunday worship that includes a sermon and singing of hymns, despite the fact that they do not necessarily identify themselves as Christians.

According to the 2007 survey published by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life 0.3% of U.S. adults or approximately 340,000 individuals identified themselves as Unitarian Universalist.^[59]

Native American religious practice

No particular religion or religious tradition is hegemonic among Native Americans in the United States. Most Native Americans, as well as those of Native American heritage, claim adherence to some form of Christianity, some of these being cultural and religious syntheses unique to the particular tribe. Traditional Native American spiritual rites and ceremonies are maintained by many Native Americans. These spiritualities may accompany adherence to another faith, or can represent a person's primary religious identity. While much Native American spiritualism exists in a tribal-cultural continuum, and as such cannot be easily separated from tribal identity itself, certain other more clearly defined movements have arisen among "Traditional" Native American practitioners, these being identifiable as "religions" in the clinical sense.

The Midewiwin Lodge is a traditional medicine society inspired by the oral traditions and prophesies of the Ojibwa (Chippewa) and related tribes. Traditional practices include the burning of sacred herbs (tobacco, sweetgrass, sage, etc.), the sweatlodge, fasting (paramount in "vision quests"), singing and drumming, and the smoking of natural tobacco in a ceremonial pipe. Traditional Native American spiritual practices take place in the context of family and community, and are led by those with many years of training in the traditions.

Another significant religious body among Native peoples is known as the Native American Church. It is a syncretic church incorporating elements of Native spiritual practice from a number of different (usually Plains) tribes as well as symbolic elements from Christianity. Its main rite is the peyote ceremony. Prior to 1890, traditional religious beliefs included Wakan Tanka.

In the American Southwest, especially New Mexico, a syncretism between the Catholicism brought by missionaries and the native religion is common; the religious drums, chants, and dances of the Pueblo people are regularly part of Masses at Santa Fe's Saint Francis Cathedral.^[60] Native American-Catholic syncretism is also found elsewhere in the United States. (e.g., the National Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine in Fonda, New York and the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, New York).

The use of eagle feathers, or the feathers of other protected species, is a traditional part of some ceremonies. The eagle feather law (Title 50 Part 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations) stipulates that only individuals of certifiable Native American ancestry enrolled in a federally recognized tribe are legally authorized to obtain eagle feathers for religious use. Native Americans and non-Native Americans have contested the value and validity of the eagle feather law, charging that the law is laden with discriminatory racial preferences and infringes on tribal sovereignty. The law prohibits Native Americans from giving eagle feathers to non-Native Americans.

Others

Many other religions are represented in the United States, including Jainism, Shintoism, Taoism, Caodaism, Wicca, Germanic paganism, Neopaganism, Zoroastrianism, Jediism and many forms of New Age spirituality.

Denominations and sects founded in the U.S.

• Polish National Catholic Church - a breakaway Catholic Church seeking communion with Rome
• Episcopal Church in the United States - founded as an offshoot of the Church of England; now the United States branch of the Anglican Communion
• United Church of Christ - descended from Congregationalist churches of New England; formed in 1957 as a united and uniting church from a union of the Congregational Christian Church and Evangelical and Reformed Church
• Churches of Christ/Disciples of Christ - a restoration movement with no governing body. The Restoration Movement solidified as a historical phenomenon in 1832 when restorationists from two major movements championed by Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell merged.
• Pentecostalism - movement which emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit, finds its historic roots in the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California, from 1904 to 1906, sparked by Charles Parham
• Adventism - began as an inter-denominational movement. Its most vocal leader was William Miller, who in the 1830s in New York became convinced of an imminent Second Coming of Jesus. The most prominent modern group to emerge from this is the Seventh Day Adventists.
• Universal Life Church - founded by the disaffected Pentecostalist Reverend Kirby J. Hensley in 1959 espousing as a goal the non-interference of the Church between the members and their God.
• Nation of Islam - A sect of Islam, created and followed solely by African-Americans. Main difference between Orthodox Islam was the re-definition of the term "Allah" as someone "who came in the person of W. D. Fard."
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) - founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1830 in New York. Now headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• Jehovah's Witnesses - originated with the religious movement known as Bible Students, which was founded in Pennsylvania in the late 1870s by Charles Taze Russell.
• Scientology - founded by L. Ron Hubbard
• Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Baptist group in the world and the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. In 1995, it renounced its 1845 origins in the defense of slavery and racial superiority.
• Unitarian Universalism - a theologically liberal religious movement founded in 1961 from the union of the well established Unitarian and Universalist churches.
• Christian Science - founded by Mary Baker Eddy
• Reconstructionist Judaism-founded by Mordecai Kaplan
• Native American Church-founded by Quanah Parker beginning in the 1890s and incorporating in 1918.
• Twelve Tribes Communities a controversial sect founded in 1973 by Elbert Eugene Spriggs or "Yoneq" in Chattanooga, Tennessee designed to replicate the early church as described in Book of Acts.
• World Church of the Creator - A racialist religious movement founded in 1992 by members of the Aryan Nations, a Neo-Nazi white separatist organization based in Hayden Lake, Idaho.
• Church of Satan - an organization formed in 1966 by Anton LaVey and dedicated to the acceptance of the carnal self, as articulated in The Satanic Bible. Satanists neither believe in nor worship a literal, physical devil or god.^[61]
• Moorish Science This faith was founded by Timothy Drew in 1913 in the United States. Its main tenet is that African-Americans were descended from the Moors and thus were originally Islamic.

Belief in God

The phrase "In God We Trust" first appeared on a U.S. coin on the 2-cent piece of 1864, and has been on all coins and paper bills since 1957. It was declared the national motto by Congress in 1956. The one dollar Federal Reserve Note of October 1957 was the first U.S. paper money with the motto.^[62] The U.S. Pledge of Allegiance was modified in 1954 to add the phrase "under God". Various polls have been conducted to determine Americans' actual beliefs regarding God:

• A November 2009 online Harris poll of 2,303 adult Americans (18 and older)^[63] showed a slight increase in belief in a personal God (82%) over previous polls conducted in 2008 and 2005. The poll also showed increases in religiously associated supernatural beliefs and stable of declining beliefs in non-religiously associated supernatural beliefs.
• A late 2008 online Harris poll of 2,126 U.S. adults (18 and older)^[64] found that "80% of adult Americans believe in God - unchanged since the last time we asked the question in 2005," but that beliefs in the supernatural showed a slight increase over the same period.
• A 2006 CBS News Poll of 899 U.S. adults found that 82% of those surveyed believed in God, while 9% believed in "some other universal spirit or higher power", 8% believed in neither, and 1% were unsure.
• A 2005 online Harris Poll of 2,010 U.S. adults (18 and older)^[65] found that 73% of those surveyed said that they believed in a God, 11% said they believed there was no God, and 16% said that they were not sure whether or not there was a God. The believers in God included 58% of respondents who said they were "absolutely certain", and 15% who said they were "somewhat certain" that there is a God. The believers in no God included 6% who were "absolutely certain", and 6% who were "somewhat certain" that there is no God. About 29% believed that God "controls what happens on Earth", while a plurality (44%) believed that God "observes but does not control what happens on Earth". The poll also showed that an "absolute certain" belief in God is correlated to age: only 43%-45% of those aged 18–29 were "absolutely certain" that God exists, while 54% of those aged 30–39 were "absolutely certain" that God exists, and 63%-65% of those aged 40 and older were "absolutely certain" that God exists.

Church attendance

Gallup International indicates that 41%^[66] of American citizens report they regularly attend religious services, compared to 15% of French citizens, 10% of UK citizens,^[67] and 7.5% of Australian citizens.^[68]

However, these numbers are open to dispute. ReligiousTolerance.org states:

"Church attendance data in the U.S. has been checked against actual values using two different techniques. The true figures show that only about 21% of Americans and 10% of Canadians actually go to church one or more times a week. Many Americans and Canadians tell pollsters that they have gone to church even though they have not. Whether this happens in other countries, with different cultures, is difficult to predict."^[66]

In, a 2006 online Harris Poll of 2,010 U.S. adults (18 and older) found that only 26% of those surveyed attended religious services "every week or more often", 9% went "once or twice a month", 21% went "a few times a year", 3% went "once a year", 22% went "less than once a year", and 18% never attend religious services. An identical survey by Harris in 2003 found that only 26% of those surveyed attended religious services "every week or more often", 11% went "once or twice a month" 19% went "a few times a year", 4% went "once a year", 16% went "less than once a year", and 25% never attend religious services.

By state

Church attendance varies a lot by state and region. In a 2006 Gallup survey, 42% of Americans said that they attended church or synagogue once a week or almost every week. The figures ranged from 58% in Alabama, Louisiana and South Carolina to 24% in Vermont and New Hampshire.

Church Attendance by State [3]

Rank	State	Percent
—	National average	42%
1	Alabama	58%
1	Louisiana	58%
1	South Carolina	58%
4	Mississippi	57%
5	Arkansas	55%
5	Utah	55%
7	Nebraska	53%
7	North Carolina	53%
9	Georgia	52%
9	Tennessee	52%
11	Oklahoma	50%
12	Texas	49%
13	Kentucky	48%
14	Kansas	47%
15	Indiana	46%
15	Iowa	46%
15	Missouri	46%
15	West Virginia	46%
19	South Dakota	45%
20	Minnesota	44%
20	Virginia	44%
22	Delaware	43%
22	Idaho	43%
22	North Dakota	43%
22	Ohio	43%
22	Pennsylvania	43%
22	Wisconsin	43%
28	Illinois	42%
28	Michigan	42%
30	Maryland	41%
30	New Mexico	41%
32	Florida	39%
33	Connecticut	37%
34	Wyoming	36%
35	Arizona	35%
35	Colorado	35%
37	Montana	34%
37	New Jersey	34%
39	District of Columbia	33%
39	New York	33%
41	California	32%
41	Oregon	32%
41	Washington	32%
44	Maine	31%
44	Massachusetts	31%
46	Rhode Island	28%
47	Nevada	27%
48	New Hampshire	24%
48	Vermont	24%

Religion and politics

Politicians frequently discuss their religion when campaigning, and many churches and religious figures are highly politically active. However, to keep their status as tax-exempt organizations they must not officially endorse a candidate. There are Christians in both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, but evangelical Christians tend to support the Republican Party whereas more liberal Christians and secular voters^[69] tend to support the Democratic Party.

Every President and Vice President, with the exception of the present president, Barack Obama,^[70][71] was raised in a family with affiliations with Christian religions. Only former President John F. Kennedy, and current Vice President Joe Biden were raised in Roman Catholic families. Two former presidents, Richard Nixon and Herbert Hoover, were raised as Quakers. All the rest were raised in families affiliated with Protestant Christianity. However, many presidents have themselves had only a nominal affiliation with churches, and some never joined any church.

Only three presidential candidates for major parties have been Catholics^[72], all for the Democratic party:

• Alfred E. Smith -- Smith, the Governor of New York, secured the Democratic presidential nomination in 1928. A contributing factor to Smith's defeat in the presidential election of 1928 was his Roman Catholic faith.
• John F. Kennedy—Kennedy, a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, secured the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960. In the 1960 election, John F. Kennedy faced accusations that as a Roman Catholic President he would do as the Pope would tell him to do, a charge that Kennedy managed to subdue considerably.
• John Kerry -- Kerry, a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, secured the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. In the 2004 election, there was discussion about whether Kerry's beliefs as a Catholic would be relevant to the national debate on abortion, but there was no implication that his being a Roman Catholic per se made him an undesirable candidate among pro-choice voters. Kerry himself was pro-choice, while the Catholic Church staunchly opposes abortion.

Joe Biden is the first Catholic vice president ^[73].

There has never been a Jewish President or Vice-President. The only Jewish major party candidate for either of those offices was Joe Lieberman in the Gore-Lieberman campaign of 2000 (although John Kerry and Barry Goldwater both had Jewish ancestry). Lieberman's faith is Orthodox Judaic. Some sources indicate that Jews constitute only 1.4% of the U.S. population, although others indicate that Jews comprise as much as 2.1% of the population (a significant decline from over 3% in the 1950s, chiefly due to the relatively low birthrate among Jewish Americans and high rates of out-marriage to non-Jews).

In the 2004 Presidential election, George W. Bush, a Methodist, earned a slim victory over John Kerry, with voters who cited "moral values" (a commonly used term among religiously inclined voters) playing a crucial part in the election ^[74].

In 2006 Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to the federal government, as the representative of Minnesota's 5th congressional district. When re-enacting his swearing-in for photos, he used the copy of the Qur'an once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

A Gallup Poll released in 2007^[75] indicated that 53% of Americans would refuse to vote for an atheist as president, up from 48% in 1987 and 1999.

Religious bodies

The table below is based mainly on selected data as reported to the United States Census Bureau. It only includes the voluntary self-reported membership of religious bodies with 60,000 or more. The definition of a member is determined by each religious body. A growing sector of the population, currently 14%, does not identify itself as a member of any religion.(^[76])

Religious body	Year Reported	Places of Worship Reported	Membership (thousands)	Number of Ministers
African Methodist Episcopal Church	1999	0-sm=n	2,500	7,741
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church	2002	3,226	1,431	3,252
American Baptist Association	1998	1,760	275	1,740
American Baptist Churches USA	1998	3,800	1,507	4,145
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America	1998	220	65	263
Armenian Apostolic Church	1998	28	200	25
Assemblies of God	1998	11,937	2,526	18,148
Baptist Bible Fellowship International	1997	4,500	1,200	-
Baptist General Conference	1998	876	141	-
Baptist Missionary Association of America	1999	1,334	235	1,525
Buddhism	2001	-	1,082	-
Christian and Missionary Alliance, The	1998	1,964	346	1,629
Christian Brethren (Plymouth Brethren)	1997	1,150	100	-
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)	1997	3,818	879	3,419
Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ	1998	5,579	1,072	5,525
Christian Congregation, Inc., The	1998	1,438	117	1,436
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church	1983	2,340	719	-
Christian Reformed Church in North America	1998	733	199	655
Church of God in Christ	1991	15,300	5,500	28,988
Church of God of Prophecy	1997	1,908	77	2,000
Church of God (Anderson, Indiana)	1998	2,353	234	3034
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)	1995	6,060	753	3,121
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	2006	13,010	5,779	39,030
Church of the Brethren	1997	1,095	141	827
Church of the Nazarene	1998	5,101	627	4,598
Churches of Christ	1999	15,000	1,500	14,500
Conservative Baptist Association of America	1998	1,200	200	-
Community of Christ	1998	1,236	140	19,319
Coptic Orthodox Church	2003	200	1,000	200
Cumberland Presbyterian Church	1998	774	87	634
Episcopal Church	1996	7,390	2,365	8,131
Evangelical Covenant Church, The	1998	628	97	607
Evangelical Free Church of America, The	1995	1,224	243	1,936
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America	1998	10,862	5,178	9,646
Evangelical Presbyterian Church	1998	187	61	262
Free Methodist Church of North America	1998	990	73	-
Full Gospel Fellowship	1999	896	275	2,070
General Association of General Baptists	1997	790	72	1,085
General Association of Regular Baptist Churches	1998	1,415	102	-
U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches	1996	368	82	590
Grace Gospel Fellowship	1992	128	60	160
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America	1998	523	1,955	596
Hinduism	2001	-	766	-
Independent Fundamental Churches of America	1999	659	62	-
International Church of the Foursquare Gospel	1998	1,851	238	4,900
International Council of Community Churches	1998	150	250	182
International Pentecostal Holiness Church	1998	1,716	177	1,507
Islam	2001	-	1,104	-
Jehovah's Witnesses	1999	11,064	1,040	-
Judaism	2001	-	2,831	-
Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, The	1998	6,218	2,594	5,227
Mennonite Church USA	2005	943	114	-
National Association of Congregational Christian Churches	1998	416	67	534
National Association of Free Will Baptists	1998	2,297	210	2,800
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.	1987	2,500	3,500	8,000
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.	1992	33,000	8,200	32,832
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America	1992	-	2,500	-
Old Order Amish Church	1993	898	81	3,592
Orthodox Church in America	1998	625	28	700
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc.	1998	1,750	1,500	4,500
Pentecostal Church of God	1998	1,237	104	-
Presbyterian Church in America	1997	1,340	280	1,642
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)	1998	11,260	3,575	9,390
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.	1995	2,000	2,500	-
Reformed Church in America	1998	902	296	915
Religious Society of Friends (Conservative)	1994	1,200	104	-
Roman Catholic Church	2002	19,484	66,404	-
Romanian Orthodox Episcopate	1996	37	65	37
Salvation Army, The	1998	1,388	471	2,920
Serbian Orthodox Church	1986	68	67	60
Seventh-day Adventist Church	1998	4,405	840	2,454
Sikhism	1999	244	80	-
Southern Baptist Convention	1998	40,870	16,500	71,520
Unitarian Universalism	2001	-	629	-
United Church of Christ	1998	6,017	1,421	4,317
United Methodist Church, The	1998	36,170	8,400	-
Wesleyan Church, The	1998	1,590	120	1,806
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod	1997	1,240	411	1,222

ARIS findings

The United States government does not collect religious data in its census. The survey below, the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) 2008, was a random digit-dialed telephone survey of 54,461 American residential households in the contiguous United States. The 1990 sample size was 113,723; 2001 sample size was 50,281.

Adult respondents were asked the open-ended question, "What is your religion, if any?" Interviewers did not prompt or offer a suggested list of potential answers. The religion of the spouse or partner was also asked. If the initial answer was "Protestant" or "Christian" further questions were asked to probe which particular denomination. About one third of the sample was asked more detailed demographic questions.

Religious Self-Identification of the U.S. Adult Population: 1990, 2001, 2008^[3]
Figures are not adjusted for refusals to reply; investigators suspect refusals are possibly more representative of "no religion" than any other group.

Source:ARIS 2008^[3]

Group	1990 adults x 1,000	2001 adults x 1,000	2008 adults x 1,000	Numerical Change 1990- 2008 as % of 1990	1990 % of adults	2001 % of adults	2008 % of adults	change in % of total adults 1990- 2008
Adult population, total	175,440	207,983	228,182	30.1%
Adult population, Responded	171,409	196,683	216,367	26.2%	97.7%	94.6%	94.8%	-2.9%
Total Christian	151,225	159,514	173,402	14.7%	86.2%	76.7%	76.0%	-10.2%
Catholic	46,004	50,873	57,199	24.3%	26.2%	24.5%	25.1%	-1.2%
non-Catholic Christian	105,221	108,641	116,203	10.4%	60.0%	52.2%	50.9%	-9.0%
Baptist	33,964	33,820	36,148	6.4%	19.4%	16.3%	15.8%	-3.5%
Mainline Christian	32,784	35,788	29,375	-10.4%	18.7%	17.2%	12.9%	-5.8%
Methodist	14,174	14,039	11,366	-19.8%	8.1%	6.8%	5.0%	-3.1%
Lutheran	9,110	9,580	8,674	-4.8%	5.2%	4.6%	3.8%	-1.4%
Presbyterian	4,985	5,596	4,723	-5.3%	2.8%	2.7%	2.1%	-0.8%
Episcopalian/Anglican	3,043	3,451	2,405	-21.0%	1.7%	1.7%	1.1%	-0.7%
United Church of Christ	438	1,378	736	68.0%	0.2%	0.7%	0.3%	0.1%
Christian Generic	25,980	22,546	32,441	24.9%	14.8%	10.8%	14.2%	-0.6%
Christian Unspecified	8,073	14,190	16,384	102.9%	4.6%	6.8%	7.2%	2.6%
Non-denominational Christian	194	2,489	8,032	4040.2%	0.1%	1.2%	3.5%	3.4%
Protestant - Unspecified	17,214	4,647	5,187	-69.9%	9.8%	2.2%	2.3%	-7.5%
Evangelical/Born Again	546	1,088	2,154	294.5%	0.3%	0.5%	0.9%	0.6%
Pentecostal/Charismatic	5,647	7,831	7,948	40.7%	3.2%	3.8%	3.5%	0.3%
Pentecostal - Unspecified	3,116	4,407	5,416	73.8%	1.8%	2.1%	2.4%	0.6%
Assemblies of God	617	1,105	810	31.3%	0.4%	0.5%	0.4%	0.0%
Church of God	590	943	663	12.4%	0.3%	0.5%	0.3%	0.0%
Other Protestant Denominations	4,630	5,949	7,131	54.0%	2.6%	2.9%	3.1%	0.5%
Churches of Christ	1,769	2,593	1,921	8.6%	1.0%	1.2%	0.8%	-0.2%
Jehovah's Witness	1,381	1,331	1,914	38.6%	0.8%	0.6%	0.8%	0.1%
Seventh-Day Adventist	668	724	938	40.4%	0.4%	0.3%	0.4%	0.0%
Mormon/Latter-Day Saints	2,487	2,697	3,158	27.0%	1.4%	1.3%	1.4%	0.0%
Total non-Christian religions	5,853	7,740	8,796	50.3%	3.3%	3.7%	3.9%	0.5%
Jewish	3,137	2,837	2,680	-14.6%	1.8%	1.4%	1.2%	-0.6%
Eastern Religions	687	2,020	1,961	185.4%	0.4%	1.0%	0.9%	0.5%
Buddhist	404	1,082	1,189	194.3%	0.2%	0.5%	0.5%	0.3%
Muslim	527	1,104	1,349	156.0%	0.3%	0.5%	0.6%	0.3%
New Religious Movements & Others	1,296	1,770	2,804	116.4%	0.7%	0.9%	1.2%	0.5%
None/ No religion, total	14,331	29,481	34,169	138.4%	8.2%	14.2%	15.0%	6.8%
Agnostic+Atheist	1,186	1,893	3,606	204.0%	0.7%	0.9%	1.6%	0.9%
Did Not Know/ Refused to reply	4,031	11,300	11,815	193.1%	2.3%	5.4%	5.2%	2.9%

Highlights:^[3]

1. The ARIS 2008 survey was carried out during February-November 2008 and collected answers from 54,461 respondents who were questioned in English or Spanish.
2. The American population self-identifies as predominantly Christian but Americans are slowly becoming less Christian.
   • 86% of American adults identified as Christians in 1990 and 76% in 2008.
   • The historic Mainline churches and denominations have experienced the steepest declines while the non-denominational Christian identity has been trending upward particularly since 2001.
   • The challenge to Christianity in the U.S. does not come from other religions but rather from a rejection of all forms of organized religion.
3. 34% of American adults considered themselves "Born Again or Evangelical Christians" in 2008.
4. The U. S. population continues to show signs of becoming less religious, with one out of every seven Americans failing to indicate a religious identity in 2008.
   • The "Nones" (no stated religious preference, atheist, or agnostic) continue to grow, though at a much slower pace than in the 1990s, from 8.2% in 1990, to 14.1% in 2001, to 15.0% in 2008.
   • Asian Americans are substantially more likely to indicate no religious identity than other racial or ethnic groups.
5. One sign of the lack of attachment of Americans to religion is that 27% do not expect a religious funeral at their death.
6. Based on their stated beliefs rather than their religious identification in 2008, 70% of Americans believe in a personal God, roughly 12% of Americans are atheist (no God) or agnostic (unknowable or unsure), and another 12% are deistic (a higher power but no personal God).
7. America's religious geography has been transformed since 1990. Religious switching along with Hispanic immigration has significantly changed the religious profile of some states and regions. Between 1990 and 2008, the Catholic population proportion of the New England states fell from 50% to 36% and in New York it fell from 44% to 37%, while it rose in California from 29% to 37% and in Texas from 23% to 32%.
8. Overall the 1990-2008 ARIS time series shows that changes in religious self-identification in the first decade of the 21st century have been moderate in comparison to the 1990s, which was a period of significant shifts in the religious composition of the United States.

Ethnicity

The table below shows the religious affiliations among the ethnicities in the United States, according to the Pew Forum 2007 survey.^[77] People of Black ethnicity were most likely to be part of a formal religion, with 85% per cent being Christians. Protestant denominations make up the majority of the Christians in the ethnicities.

Religion	White	Black	Asian	Other/Mixed	Latino
Christian	78%	85%	45%	69%	84%
Protestant	53%	78%	27%	51%	23%
Catholic	22%	5%	17%	14%	58%
Mormon	2%	0%	1%	2%	1%
Jehovah's Witness	0%	1%	0%	1%	1%
Orthodox	1%	0%	0%	1%	0%
Other	0%	0%	0%	1%	0%
Other Religions	5%	2%	30%	9%	2%
Jewish	2%	0%	0%	1%	0%
Muslim	0%	1%	4%	1%	0%
Buddhist	1%	0%	9%	1%	0%
Hindu	0%	0%	14%	1%	0%
Other world religions	0%	0%	2%	0%	0%
Other faiths	1%	0%	1%	5%	0%
Unaffiliated	17%	13%	25%	22%	15%

ARDA survey

The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) surveyed congregations for their memberships. Churches were asked for their membership numbers. Adjustments were made for those congregations that did not respond and for religious groups that reported only adult membership.^[78] ARDA estimates that most of the churches not responding were black Protestant congregations. Significant difference in results from other databases include the lower representation of adherents of 1> all kinds (62.7%), 2>Christians (58.3%) 3>Protestants (less than 36%); and the greater number of unaffiliated (37.3%).

Religious groups

Religious group	number in year 2000	% in year 2000
Total US pop year 2000	281,421,839	100.0%
Evangelical Protestant	39,994,852	14.2%
Mainline Protestant	26,091,321	9.3%
Protestant (evangelical+mainline)	66,086,173	23.5%
Catholic	62,035,042	22.0%
Orthodox	989,106	0.4%
adherents (unadjusted)	141,364,420	50.2%
unclaimed	140,057,419	49.8%
adjustment for non-responses (mostly black Protestant congregations)	35,112,928	12.5%
total adherents (adjusted)	176,477,348	62.7%
non-affiliated (unclaimed - adjustment)	104,944,491	37.3%
total non-Christian religion	12,254,099	4.4%
Jewish estimate	6,141,325	2.2%
Muslim estimate	1,559,294	0.6%
Mormon (LDS)	4,224,026	1.5%
Source: ARDA[9]

See also

• Fundamentalist Christianity
• United States religious history
• Freedom of Religion in the United States
• Irreligion in the United States
• Separation of church and state in the United States
• Religious affiliations of United States Presidents
• Religion in United States prisons

References

Bibliography

• Miguel A. De La Torre, "Encyclopedia on Hispanic American Religious Culture," Volume 1 & 2, ABC-CLIO Publishers, 2009.
• Gaustad, Edwin (1962). Historical atlas of religion in America. New York, New York: Harper & Row .
• David G. Dalin and Alfred J. Kolatch, The Presidents of the United States & the Jews, Jonathan David Publishers, Inc, 2000, ISBN 0-8246-0428-8.

Further reading

• Buck, Christopher (2009). Religious myths and visions of America: how minority faiths redefined America's world role. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 9780313359590. http://books.google.com/?id=E8Cd5sfApM4C&printsec=frontcover&q. .

External links

• Patheos an online destination to engage in the global dialogue about religion and spirituality
• The Institute of Interfaith Dialog promoting dialog between people of different faiths, founded in the United States
• Association of Religion Data Archives
• 2008 ARIS Survey
• CNN Article (2/25/08) on 2008 Pew Results [4]
• Religious Affiliation Underestimated in U.S., Study Shows
• Map Gallery of Religion in the United States
• http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html#religions
• U.S. Census links and Statistical Abstract - ARIS Data - PDF & XLS (Excel)
• USA - Population statistics by religion
• Is America Too *** Religious? -- from NPR.
• None of the above: the growth of the “non-religious” - from IBCSR.
• Religious, not spiritual article on religiosity vs. spirituality in America.
• Charles Reagan Wilson, "Overview: Religion and the U.S. South", Southern Spaces, 16 March 2004. http://southernspaces.org/2004/overview-religion-and-us-south

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