America is becoming increasingly secular

 (Photo: Unsplash/Samuel Branch)

The US is becoming increasingly secular, with the number of Americans without any religion increasing year after year.

At the same time, fewer Americans are identifying as Christian, according to polling by Pew Research Center. 

Around three in 10 US adults (29%) are religious "nones" - those who identify as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular" - 6 percentage points higher than five years ago and 10 points higher than a decade ago. 

Self-identified Christians account for just under two thirds (63%) of the adult population - down from over three quarters (78%) in 2007. 

The poll of over 3,900 US adults found the decline most concentrated among Protestants. Four in 10 Americans identify as Protestant, down 4 percentage points in five years and 10 points in the last decade. 

By comparison, just over a fifth (21%) describe themselves as Catholic, the same proportion as in 2014. 

Of those who identified as Protestant, a majority (60%) said they thought of themselves as "born-again or evangelical Christian". 

Overall, the proportion of Americans who identify as evangelical Protestant has fallen by 6 percentage points since 2007 to just under a quarter (24%) of US adults. 

Protestants who do not identify as evangelical have experienced a similar decline from 22% to 16% in the same time frame. 

The number of Americans who say they pray daily has also steadily fallen in the last 14 years from over half the population (58%) to 45% today. 

Mirroring this change, only four in 10 Americans say religion is "very important" in their lives, compared with 56% who said the same in 2007. 

"The secularizing shifts evident in American society so far in the 21st century show no signs of slowing," Pew said. 

News
Christians welcome plans to crackdown on AI deepfake pornography
Christians welcome plans to crackdown on AI deepfake pornography

Elon Musk said the scandal was being used as an "excuse for censorship".

Calls to end puberty blockers experimentation on children by the NHS
Calls to end puberty blockers experimentation on children by the NHS

“Puberty blockers are the first step down a medical path with extremely dangerous lifelong consequences.”

850-year-old cathedral choir school closes following Labour's VAT assault
850-year-old cathedral choir school closes following Labour's VAT assault

Exeter Cathedral School, which has operated for over 850 years, has announced that it will be closing its doors due to “unavoidable financial pressures”.

Geographer says evidence to support Noah’s Ark theory is inconclusive
Geographer says evidence to support Noah’s Ark theory is inconclusive

A Turkish geographer has urged caution over recent media reports suggesting that pottery fragments discovered near a boat-shaped geological formation in eastern Turkey could confirm the existence of Noah’s Ark, saying the findings are preliminary and require further scientific study.