Religion in the United States
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Status of Religion in the United States
Religion is a significant part of the culture of the United States. The United States is one of the most religious first-world nations. Gallup International reports indicate that 42 percent of American citizens regularly attend religious services, compared to 15 percent of French citizens, 10 percent of UK citizens, and 25 percent of Israeli citizens. The predominant religion in the United States is Christianity, but the First Amendment right to freedom of religion and a diverse population means that no one religion is completely dominant. Also, separation of church and state ensures that the government does not act in the interest of religion. Culture "wars" often have roots in religious differences, but major incidents of religious violence are rare.
Political Influence of Religion in the United States
Politicians frequently discuss their religion when campaigning and many churches and religious figures are highly politically active. However, to keep their status as tax-exempt organizations they must not officially endorse a candidate. The considerable majority of presidents have had some affiliation with Protestant Christianity, several early holders of the office being Deists, with at least four Unitarians and a single Roman Catholic. (See the list of U.S. Presidential religious affiliations.)
Table of religious bodies in the United States
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The table below represents selected data as reported to the U.S. Census Bureau. It only includes the voluntary self-reported membership of religious bodies with 60,000 or more. The definition of "church member" is determined by the religious body. It should also be noted that a growing sector of the population (14%)[1] does not identify itself as a member of any religion.
Religious affiliation
Self-Described Religious Identification of US Adult Population: 1990 and 2001 [2]
All figures after adjusting for refusals to reply, which jumped from 2.3% in 1990 to 5.4% in 2001
| 1990 | 2001 | Change in % point |
Numerical growth in % terms |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Christian | 88.3% | 79.8% | -8.5% | +5.3% |
| Catholic | 26.8% | 25.9% | -1.0% | +10.6% |
| Other Christian | 61.4% | 54.0% | -7.5% | +0.8% |
| Baptist | 19.8% | 17.2% | -2.6% | -0.4% |
| Methodist | 8.3% | 7.2% | -1.1% | -0.2% |
| Christian - no denomination supplied | 4.7% | 7.2% | +2.5% | +75.3% |
| Lutheran | 5.3% | 4.9% | -0.4% | +5.2% |
| Presbyterian | 2.9% | 2.8% | -0.1% | +12.3% |
| Protestant - no denomination supplied | 10.0% | 2.4% | -7.7% | -73.0% |
| Pentecostal/Charismatic | 1.9% | 2.2% | +0.4% | +38.1% |
| Episcopalian/Anglican | 1.8% | 1.8% | -- | +13.4% |
| Mormon/Latter Day Saints | 1.5% | 1.4% | -- | +12.1% |
| Churches of Christ | 1.0% | 1.3% | +0.3% | +46.6% |
| Congregational/United Church of Christ | 0.3% | 0.7% | +0.4% | +130.1% |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | 0.8% | 0.7% | -0.1% | -3.6% |
| Assemblies of God | 0.4% | 0.6% | +0.2% | +67.6% |
| Evangelical | 0.1% | 0.5% | +0.4% | +326.4% |
| Church of God | 0.3% | 0.5% | +0.2% | +77.8% |
| Seventh Day Adventist | 0.4% | 0.4% | -- | +8.4% |
| Eastern Orthodox | 0.3% | 0.3% | -- | +28.5% |
| Other Christian (less than 0.3% each) | 1.6% | 1.9% | +0.3% | +40.2% |
| Total other religions | 3.5% | 5.2% | +1.7% | +69.1% |
| Jewish | 1.8% | 1.4% | -0.4% | -9.8% |
| Non-denominational | 0.1% | 1.3% | +1.2% | +1,176.4% |
| Muslim | 0.3% | 0.6% | +0.3 | +109.5% |
| Buddhist | 0.2% | 0.5% | +0.3% | +169.8% |
| Hindu | 0.1% | 0.4% | +0.3% | +237.4% |
| Unitarian Universalist | 0.3% | 0.3% | -- | +25.3% |
| Others (less than 0.07% each) | 0.6% | 0.7% | +0.1% | +25.4% |
| No Religion/Atheist/Agnostic | 8.4% | 15.0% | +6.6% | +105.7% |
