{"id":31179,"date":"2022-09-10T15:20:04","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/most-americans-embrace-religion-spirituality-even-atheists\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:20:04","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:20:04","slug":"most-americans-embrace-religion-spirituality-even-atheists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/most-americans-embrace-religion-spirituality-even-atheists\/","title":{"rendered":"Most Americans Embrace Religion, Spirituality\u2014Even Atheists"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ric Rodrigues photo – Pexels<\/div>\n

By Aaron Earls<\/em><\/p>\n

More U.S. adults say they are currently atheist or agnostic than who say they grew up that way, but faith and spirituality are present even among non-religious Americans, according to a new study.<\/p>\n

The multiyear research project from the Fetzer Institute on spirituality in America found 9 in 10 U.S. adults (89%) consider themselves spiritual, religious, or both.<\/p>\n

Most (70%) say they are both religious and spiritual. Around 1 in 6 say they are spiritual, but not religious (16%). Close to 1 in 10 (11%) say they are neither. Few (3%) say they are only religious.<\/p>\n

Almost 3 in 4 Americans (73%) consider themselves religious to some extent, while 86% say they are at least slightly spiritual.<\/p>\n

Despite the high levels of spirituality and religiosity, Americans direct association with religion shrinks as they become adults.<\/p>\n

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More than 2 in 5 Americans say they grew up Protestant (42%), but only 30% identify as such now.<\/p>\n

A Lifeway Research survey found 2 in 3 Protestant teenagers drop out of church for at least a year when they become young adults. Most do eventually begin attending again at least occasionally, but 29% have not returned.<\/p>\n

Roman Catholics also saw a similar drop, with 25% saying they were raised as such and 15% claiming the label as an adult.<\/p>\n

Unspecified Christians grew 5 percentage points from childhood (14%) to now (19%). This may track with the growth of non-denominational Christians found in other surveys.<\/p>\n

Few Americans say they were raised as an atheist (1%) or agnostic (1%), but both saw a 4-percentage-point jump with 5% identifying as each label now.<\/p>\n

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See also  Americans Open to Most Churches, Regardless of Denomination<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The largest point jump is among those who are \u201cnothing in particular.\u201d While 6% say they grew up that way, 14% identify as that today.<\/p>\n

Still, most Americans say they continue to practice the religion in which they grew up (61%). One in 5 (20%) say they\u2019ve changed religions.<\/p>\n

Fewer have left religion completely (18%) and even less say they grew up as an atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular but now belong to a religion (2%).<\/p>\n

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Yet even among the quarter of Americans who do not identify with a religion (atheists, agnostics, and those who say they are “nothing in particular”), most still describe themselves as a spiritual person.<\/p>\n

Almost a quarter of non-religious Americans (23%) say they are \u201cvery spiritual,\u201d significantly more than the 14% who are \u201cnot spiritual at all.\u201d Around 2 in 5 (39%) say they are moderately spiritual and 23% call themselves slightly spiritual.<\/p>\n

Atheists were more likely than other non-religious Americans to say they were not at all spiritual (66%), but around 1 in 3 describe themselves as at least slightly spiritual, including 1% who say they are very spiritual atheists.<\/p>\n

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Aaron Earls<\/h2>\n

@Wardrobedoor <\/p>\n

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Aaron is the senior writer\/editor at LifewayResearch.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n