A new Pew Research Center report reveals that 92% of U.S. adults still hold spiritual beliefs, and the country’s decline of Christians may be stabilizing. But a Rice University religion expert warns that church attendance remains a major concern as there are still far fewer Americans filling the pews.
“While the report found that the vast majority of Americans do hold some spiritual beliefs and over 60% of the U.S. population are Christians, religious identity and being spiritual does not necessarily mean people are in the pews,” said Elaine Howard Ecklund, director of Rice’s Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance and the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences. Ecklund and her team of researchers have conducted extensive research on religion and spirituality in the U.S., their connection with politics and how it translates into religious attendance.
Ecklund noted that religion is a powerful predictor of human behavior, particularly in this day and age, and said more research is needed on how faith influences individuals and how they interact with the world around them. She added that we are seeing more and more that politics drive religion rather than religion driving politics.
“As my colleagues at Pew note, we need to be really attentive to the presence — or absence — of Christianity among younger cohorts of Americans as well as the continued connection between religion and politics for white Christians,” Ecklund said. “Pastors still have a lot of work to do.”
For more information or to schedule an interview with Ecklund, contact Amy McCaig, senior national media relations specialist at Rice, at 217-417-2901 or amym@rice.edu.
Church attendance still in trouble, warns Rice religion expert after new Pew research report
