Study Delves Into Why Americans Change Religions

Americans are fickle consumers of religion, with about half changing religious affiliations at least once in their lives as they drift away from childhood traditions or stop believing in the teachings of their faiths, according to a national survey released Monday.

Such religious switching has swollen the ranks of the unaffiliated, according to researchers from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Still, religion remains a strong force in American life, even among those raised in nonreligious homes.

“Many times, changing religions is a gradual process rather than a decision or event that takes place at a particular moment,” Greg Smith, a forum research fellow, said Monday.

The survey, “Faith in Flux: Changes in Religious Affiliation in the U.S.,” is a follow-up to a major study released last year by the Pew Forum. The 2008 analysis found that 44% of U.S. adults have switched religious affiliations or abandoned ties to a specific religion.

Monday’s survey, based on follow-up interviews with 2,800 people, delved more deeply into the reasons behind the religious churn among Roman Catholics, Protestants and the unaffiliated. Jews, Muslims and other groups were not included because their numbers were not large enough to produce reliable results, the researchers said.

The survey found that most people who leave their childhood faith do so by the age of 24, and many change religions or denominations more than once.

The researchers found 16% of the adult population to be unaffiliated. Most said they had moved away from religious observance because they no longer believe in God or religious teachings. Many without religious belief also said they found religious people to be hypocritical, judgmental or insincere.

via Source