US belief in God isn't needed for morality

More Americans Say Belief in God Is Not Necessary for Morality

US belief in God isn't needed for morality

White Americans who believe in God are a minority now.

56 percent of Americans think God has nothing to do with being a moral person.[/tweetit] They also do not correlate belief in God with having good values. This percentage has increased from 49 percent in 2011. These are the results of a study conducted by Pew Research Center, a well-known research group.

More Americans Say Belief in God Is Not Necessary for Morality[/tweetthis]

One striking factor in this regard is the increase of religious “nones.” These are individuals who identify themselves as agnostic or atheists. Some even describe themselves as “nothing in particular.” The authors of the study wrote, these people “are more likely than those who identify with a religion to say that belief in God is not a prerequisite for good values and morality. So the public’s increased rejection of the idea that belief in God is necessary for morality is due, in large part, to the spike in the share of Americans who are religious 'nones.'”

More white evangelicals, religious 'nones' now say belief in God not needed to be moral, have good values

The increasing percentage of “nones” form only a small part of the whole. Attitudes concerning belief and its correlation with God have changed among those who identify themselves with religion as well. Pew has found out that among all the religiously affiliated adults, the share of people claiming that morality has nothing to do with belief in God has also gone up to 45 percent in 2017 from 42 percent in 2011. This trend is seen among both Catholics and Protestants.

The Pew study showed that 49 percent of Catholics and 41 percent of Protestants agreed that belief in God has nothing to do with morality. In 2011, it was 47 percent and 37 percent respectively. The percentage of religious “nones” who said that a person can be a good one without God is 85 percent. In 2011, 78 percent had the same views.

It is clear the United States is undergoing a rapidly changing religious landscape. White Christians, once a majority religious demographic, has become a minority. PRRI or as Public Religion Research Institute is colloquially known, has reported that white Christians now make up 43 percent of the American population. This is a huge fall from 81 percent in 1975. The PRRI also said that the number of non-Christians has also grown, but at much more modest rates. Even with these facts, President Donald Trump affirmed that he supports Christians. He also said that he supports religious freedom.

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