I have posted before about the decline of religion in this country, as revealed by the Pew Research Center surveys. Now another polling organization has verified those findings -- the Harris Poll. The charts in this post reflect the findings of Harris Poll surveys -- the latest being conducted between November 13th and 18th of this year, when 2,250 nationwide adults were polled. A margin of error was not given, but is probably pretty low considering the size of the random sample.While Pew listed the non-religious at 19%, Harris pegs it a little bit higher. They show the percentage of non-religious Americans as being 23%. That's 11 points higher than what it was just a few years ago (in 2007), and corresponds with a similar drop of 11 points in those who say they are very/somewhat religious (from 70% to 59%).
This same move toward a more secular country is reflected by a drop in the belief in a god -- from 79% in 2003 to 68% in 2013 (with 54% being absolutely certain there is a god and 14% being somewhat certain). Currently 16% say they are certain there is no god, while another 16% say they don't know whether god exists or not. There has also been a drop in the belief that religious texts are the "word of god". There is not a majority believing that any religious text is the word of god -- including the christian texts of the old and new testaments.
And belief in other religious ideas (such as heaven, hell/devil, deity of Jesus, virgin birth, resurrection, a soul that survives death, and creationism) have also shown a drop in belief. The only two beliefs showing a rise in percentage believing them are evolution and reincarnation.
The most surprising thing for me was how small the percentage was of those who are certain of the existence of god. Only slightly more than half of all Americans (about 54%) are convinced of god's existence -- and when the question is broken down demographically, there are several groups where that belief falls below 50% (see chart below).
Religious people will probably think this drop in the religiosity of Americans is a bad thing. I think just the opposite -- that it is a good thing. Too often religion is used to justify unfairness and inequality in life. People are urged to just put up with injustice in this world, and they will get rewarded for that in the next world -- a world that supposedly exists after death. It is my hope that as religiosity decreases, the concern for justice, fairness, and equality will increase. And religion will cease to be used as an excuse to do nothing, or as a cover for bigotry and hate.
