(CNN) -- America
is a less Christian
nation than it was
20 years ago, and
Christianity is not
losing out to other
religions, but
primarily to a
rejection of
religion altogether,
a survey published
Monday found.
Survey
finds
percentage
of
of
Americans
identifying
themselves
as
Christian
has
fallen
over
two
decades.
Three out of four
Americans call
themselves
Christian, according
to the American
Religious
Identification
Survey from Trinity
College in Hartford,
Connecticut. In
1990, the figure was
closer to nine out
of 10 -- 86 percent.
At the same time
there has been an
increase in the
number of people
expressing no
religious
affiliation.
The survey also
found that
"born-again" or
"evangelical"
Christianity
is on the rise,
while the percentage
who belong to
"mainline"
congregations such
as the Episcopal or
Lutheran churches
has fallen.
One in three
Americans consider
themselves
evangelical, and the
number of people
associated with
mega-churches has
skyrocketed from
less than 200,000 in
1990 to more than 8
million in the
latest survey.
The rise in
evangelical
Christianity is
contributing to the
rejection of
religion altogether
by some Americans,
said Mark Silk of
Trinity College.
"In the 1990s, it
really sunk in on
the American public
generally that there
was a long-lasting
'religious right'
connected to a
political party, and
that turned a lot of
people the other
way," he said of the
link between the
Republican Party and
groups such as the
Moral Majority and
Focus on the Family.
"In an earlier time,
people who would
have been content to
say, 'Well, I'm some
kind of a
Protestant,' now say
'Hell no, I won't
go,'" he told CNN.
Silk also said the
revelation that some
Catholic priests had
sexually abused
children -- and
senior figures in
the church hierarchy
had helped to hide
it -- had driven
some Catholics away
from religion.
And, he said, it is
now more socially
acceptable than it
once was to admit
having no religion.
"You're not
declaring yourself a
total pariah. The
culture has changed
in a way that makes
it easier to say,
'No, I don't have a
religion. Even in
the past year, Mitt
Romney and Barack
Obama feel obliged
to talk about 'those
of no faith,'" he
pointed out. Obama
mentioned people
without faith in his
inaugural address in
January, making him
the first president
to do so.
In the survey, one
in five Americans
said they have no
religious identity
or did not answer
the question, and
more than one in
four said they do
not expect to have a
religious funeral.
The rise in what the
survey authors call
"nones" is the only
trend reflected in
every single state
in the study, Silk
said.
"We don't see
anything else in the
survey that is
nationwide," he told
CNN.
Other findings
include:
• The percentage of
Catholics in the
United States has
remained steady at
about one in four
since 1990, while
the percentage of
other Christians has
plummeted from 60
percent to 50
percent.
• The percentage of
Muslims
has doubled since
1990, but remains
statistically very
small, only 0.3
percent in the
original survey and
0.6 percent today.
• Mormons have
remained steady as a
percentage of the
population, even as
the number of people
in the United States
has grown. They make
up 1.4 percent of
the population.
• The number of
Jews
in the United States
is falling if the
category includes
only those who
define themselves as
Jews religiously,
but has remained the
same if the category
includes people who
consider themselves
ethnically Jewish.
