Religion Losing Influence, Americans Don't Want It That Way

Religion Today | Updated: May 29, 2013

Religion Losing Influence, Americans Don't Want It That Way

More than three-quarters of Americans (77 percent) say religion is losing its influence on American life, while 20 percent say religion's influence is increasing, according to a new Gallup poll. These numbers represent Americans' most negative evaluations of the impact of religion since 1970, though similar to the views measured in recent years. Yet a separate question found much more positive views of the potential for religion to have an impact on the country, with 75 percent saying American society would be better off if more Americans were religious. Americans who attend church regularly and who say religion is important in their own lives are far more likely to say it would be positive for American society if more Americans were religious, but even so, more than half of those who seldom or never attend and close to one in three Americans who say religion is not important to them personally still say it would be positive for society if more Americans were religious.



Religion Losing Influence, Americans Don't Want It That Way