Pew Survey: Fewer Americans Are Religious, More Are Gay Accepting

Pew Research Center released the results of a new survey of Americans which provides more bad news for Christofascists and their tawdry political whores in the Republican Party.  According to to Pew, the lowest number of Americans ever report themselves as "religious" and the percentage of Americans who now consider themselves to be "Nones" is the highest ever.  Even worse for the Christofascists/GOP is the fact that even among the "religious," support for gays and gay rights is surging.  Think Progress looks at the Pew findings (the full report is here).  Here are highlights:

In a study released on Tuesday, Pew researchers reported that an increasing number of Americans aren’t claiming a religious affiliation, and that the percentage of people who say they believe in God, pray daily, or regularly attend worship services has declined in recent years. Researchers say this is partially due to the rise of the religiously unaffiliated, a group of mostly young people who are sometimes called “nones” because of how they answer questions about religious identification; they now account for 23 percent of the adult population, a seven-point increase since 2007, according to the study.

According to the survey, nonreligious Americans are overwhelmingly progressive, most aligning themselves with the Democratic Party. Yet among the three-quarters of U.S. adults that still claim a religion, virtually every major faith group is moving to embrace progressive values — especially acceptance of homosexuality and LGBT rights.

“Nearly all major religious groups have become significantly more accepting of homosexuality in recent years — even groups, such as evangelicals and Mormons, that traditionally have expressed strong opposition to same-sex relationships,” the report reads.

This can be seen in the wave of Christian groups that have voted to embrace same-sex marriage in over the past few years, such as Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Episcopal Church. . . . . And while the Catholic Church officially condemns same-sex relationships, the average Catholic is actually more progressive on marriage equality than the average American. 

Indeed, the next generation of theological conservatives has already shifted on the issue: half of millennials who identify as evangelical Protestants now say homosexuality should be accepted by society.

Although religious Americans still make up nearly three-quarters of Democrats and “Democratic-leaning” adults, there are now more “nones” in the group than Catholics, mainline Protestants, evangelical Protestants, or members of the historically black Protestant tradition. In total, three-in-ten Democrats now say they have no religion — a nine-point spike in seven years.

While the proportion of liberal people of faith is projected to grow over time, this shift among progressives doesn’t necessarily translate into an immediate windfall for Democrats, however. Although growing numbers of religious Americans are aligned with “nones” in the pursuit of some progressive policies, religiously unaffiliated people are notably less involved in the political process than their spiritual counterparts. According to the study, 71 percent of adults who claim a religion are registered to vote, compared to just 62 percent of “nones.” 

Obviously, I view the decline of religion to be be a positive.  However, we have much to do to motivate the "Nones" to get out and vote so that the Christofascists cannot force their beliefs on others via the ballot box.