Two new Gallup polls reveal that Americans are increasingly losing their faith.
In one survey, Gallup asked Americans about their belief in five spiritual entities: God, the devil, heaven, hell and angels. The results show that belief in all five has dropped to new lows since Gallup first asked these questions in 2001.
Overall, there’s been a fairly steep decline across the board, with only 74 percent of Americans saying they believe in God in 2021, down from 90 percent in 2001. Belief in the devil dropped from 68 percent to 58 percent, belief in heaven from 83 percent to 67 percent, belief in hell from 71 percent to 59 percent and belief in angels from 79 percent to 69 percent.
The decline in belief was more pronounced among younger generations, those with no religious preference and those who seldom or never attend religious services. However, even among those who identify with a specific religion or attend services regularly, there was a decrease in belief over time.
The other survey asked Americans to rate the importance of eight aspects of life: family, friends, health, community activities, hobbies, money, work and religion. Over the last 20 years, every aspect has become more important for Americans — except religion.
Religion was the only aspect to decrease in importance, dropping from 65 percent in 2002 to 58 percent in 2023. Women and younger Americans were most likely to say that religion was not as important to them.
The surveys suggest that Americans are reevaluating their spiritual priorities after years of declining trust in religious institutions and church leadership scandals, as well as various socioeconomic changes. Experts predict that within the next several decades, Christianity in America will continue to rapidly decline.
