A new study reveals that the Christians could fall to less than 50%, ‘nones’ could be more than 50% in the US by 2070. Read ahead to know what this means.
Projected: American Christians may fall below 50%
According to a study by Pew Research Center, Christians made up about 64 percent of Americans in 2020. Pew Research Center is a Washington DC-based nonpartisan think tank. (https://flathatnews.com)
People who are religiously unaffiliated, also known as religious “nones,” made up 30% of the US population. Other religions accounted for about 6% of the total, including Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists.
Since the 1990s, a huge number of Americans are joining a growing number of people who define their religious identity as agnostic, atheist, or “nothing in particular”. The trend is reshaping the religious landscape in the US and leading people to wonder how the future of religion will look.
According to Pew’s new report, ‘Modeling the Future of Religion in America,’ Christians of all ages could shrink from 64% to between a little more than half (54%) and just above one-third (35%) of all Americans by 2070, depending on whether religious switching continues at current rates, accelerates, or stops entirely. It reveals that during this time, “nones” would rise to 34 percent or even 52 percent. The institution added that these are just some of the possibilities.
What do the major scenarios reveal?
A no-switching scenario is where no American changes or has changed their religion after 2020.
In a steady switching scenario, the movement in and out of Christianity among Americans remains stable and current rates. Movement into and out of Christianity has remained stable at recent rates. That is, 31% of Christians become religiously unaffiliated before the age of 30, while 21% of unaffiliated people become Christians in each new generation.
On the other hand, if there is rising disaffiliation with limits then in each new generation, an increasing proportion of Christians leave before the age of 30, while a decreasing proportion of ‘nones’ join. However, the switching rate is limited in order to keep the proportion of Christians who abandon their faith from exceeding 50%.
In a rising disaffiliation situation without limits, there is no cap imposed on the changes.
US ‘nones’ will approach the majority by 2070 if recent switching trends continue.
