Pew Research Center Survey Finds Decline in Americans' Religious Affiliations

         The Pew Research Center, known for its continuing surveys of American life and values, released its most recent survey about Americans’ religious affiliations in December, based on data collected from May through August, 2021. The survey indicates the proportion of American adults who are not affiliated religiously is 6 percent higher than 5 years ago and 10 percent higher than a decade ago. Americans who says that they are atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” represented 28 percent of those surveyed. They are referred to as the “nones” referencing “none of the above.”
       Other survey highlights include:
      --Self-identified Christians are 63 percent of the population, representing a 2 to 1 ratio to the “nones” in comparison to 2007 (the first year the question was asked) when Christians outnumbered “nones” by 75 percent to 16 percent.
   --The number of Protestants has declined and Catholics have held steady at 21 percent.
-- Among survey respondents, 1 percent each identified as Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist and 1 to 2 percent as Jewish, depending on the particular survey methodology used by Pew (phone, paper etc.).