New Pew Study Indicates Environment for the Free Exercise of Religion Growing More Unfavorable

​We recently reported on the results of a Becket Fund for Religious Liberty survey, the Religious Freedom Index finding that 75 percent of Americans accept and support the freedom for people to choose (or not choose) a religion – up nearly 20 points since 2020. Now the Pew Research Center’s recently released Religious Landscape Study, raises a few red flags about the future of continued support for the free exercise of religion in America.  

While Pew’s findings are something of a mixed bag for the prospect of religious affiliation, Protect The 1st is concerned with the implications of declining religiosity for the protections of the First Amendment. When fewer people value faith, the less likely it becomes that our country will steadfastly honor expressions of religious beliefs in accordance with the Constitution. In fact, as religious adherents become a minority, the more vital it becomes that we protect them and their activities.

First, here are some top-line findings from Pew, many of which religious people may find somewhat reassuring:

• Following years of decline, the number of Americans identifying as Christian is around 62 percent. The figure constitutes a marked decrease from the first such study concerning the nation’s majority religion. In 2007, 78 percent of Americans viewed themselves as Christian.

 

• At the same time, over the last five years, “the Christian share of the adult population has been relatively stable,” oscillating between 60 percent and 64 percent. The latest figure falls squarely in the middle of that range.

 

• Spiritual beliefs are far more common, with 86 percent of respondents affirming belief in a soul and 83 percent of respondents attesting to a faith in God or in a “universal spirit.”

Now for the red flags – despite indicators suggesting a stabilization in patterns of religious affiliation, Pew’s findings suggest a real possibility of continued declines over the coming years because young people are significantly less likely to be religious than older generations. According to the survey, only 46 percent of respondents in the 18-24 demographic identify as Christian versus 80 percent of adults in the 74+ demographic.

“Generational replacement,” the study notes, could have the effect of upending recent stabilization patterns.  

Pew’s survey surprisingly found that more than one-half of Americans believe religion either does more harm than good, or only does good and harm in equal amounts. Only 44 percent believed it was a clear force for good – no doubt a deep decline in historical terms. A whopping 83 percent of religiously unaffiliated people say that religion does at least as much harm as good. Pew’s study further provides that “[c]ompared with 2014, Americans now express less positive views of churches and other religious organizations.”

These are trends that could inspire infringements on the free exercise of religion. As public perceptions of religious organizations worsen, these perceptions create an unfavorable environment for religious expression of all sorts – even if religious organizations ultimately prevail against legal challenges in court.

For those of us who defend the free exercise of religion – the right to practice any religion or hold no religion at all – it seems clear that we must navigate a complex landscape with growing cultural antipathy towards religious institutions. This makes it more important than ever that we continue to honor our foundational precepts by educating people about the Bill of Rights and opposing those who would use state power to scale those rights back.
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The Supreme Court of the United States will soon hear Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case that concerns the rights of parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, to opt their children out of teachings about sexuality contrary to their religion. The Court is also still considering whether to take up the case of Apache Stronghold v. United States, which seeks protection for the long-recognized sacred site of the Apaches in Arizona, whose very existence is under threat by a mining project that would obliterate this site.
 
We hope these and other cases will be resolved in favor of the First Amendment. In the meantime, Protect The 1st will keep following the trend lines, while continuing to unwaveringly advocate for the future of free exercise.

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