I wish could claim credit for it with my book, "Ten Reasons To Lose Faith: And Why You Are Better Off Without it" but Americans are rapidly losing faith in the Christian god, as the result of this recent survey shows. The survey was conducted by researcher George Barna for the recently-founded Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.
The result must have come as a shock to them.
In 1993 73% of Americans agreed with the view that God is "all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect and just creator of the universe who still rules the world today". That figure has now fallen to just 51%.
52% of Americans now believe that God is not a real entity but is merely symbolic. Almost half Americans (49%) expressed doubt that God actually exists at all. Surprisingly, 56% believe that Satan is a real. Only 41% agreed that Jesus led a sinless life.
Over the last 30 years, the percentage of Americans who "doesn’t/don’t know/don’t care" whether God exists has risen from 8% to 32%.
These findings are consistent with other surveys that have recorded similar declines in religious belief or the importance of religion to Americans, coinciding with increased access to information and exposure to fundamentalist evangelicals on the Internet.
The largest demographic in America is now the 'nones', i.e., those who have no affiliation to any religion. Other studies have shown that 'none' is often a transitional stage on the way to Atheism or a complete rejection of religion as the group-affiliation needs are no longer being met by organised religions. As religiosity falls with the loss of peer-pressure, so the questioning begins and the freedom of original thought and the loss of requirement to conform to group norms diminishes.
A Gallop poll in Spring 2019 showed a sharp and accelerating decline in religious affiliation in the USA, confirmed by this recent survey.
It is now becoming increasingly clear that America, for long an outlier in world terms as a developed nation with a high degree of religious belief, is now catching up with the rest of the developed world in rejecting religion. The belief that America lags about a generation behind Europe in its cultural development is being increasingly born out by these sorts of surveys.
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