Seth Udinski, FISM News

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It is no shock that religious secularism continues to grow in America. According to a poll from Pew Research Center, the numbers are trending dramatically toward secularism.

Released on Dec. 14, the poll explores the ways in which religious identification among American Christians has changed in the last generation. The study shows that the number of identifying Christians in the country has indeed decreased.

For example, in 2007 52% of American citizens claimed to belong to a Protestant Christian denomination. That number declined to 40% in 2021. The percentage of Roman Catholics in the nation has also dipped, though not as drastically, from 24% in 2007 to 21% this year.

Perhaps the most alarming number is that, according to the findings, almost 3-of-10 Americans now identify in the “none” category, or religiously unaffiliated. In 2007, only 16% of Americans claimed to be nonreligious, compared to 29% in 2021. The poll also revealed that the percentage of professing Christians in the nation has declined from 78% in 2007 to 63% this year.

The poll states,

Christians now outnumber religious “nones” by a ratio of a little more than two-to-one. In 2007, when the Center began asking its current question about religious identity, Christians outnumbered “nones” by almost five-to-one.

Additionally, the number of people who claim that religion plays a vital role in their lives has dropped from 52% in 2007 to 41% in 2021.

For Christians, this poll is alarming as it reveals the increasingly secular world in which we live. At the same time, we can take courage knowing that the Church has historically flourished under fire. Even more encouraging is the promise made to us by our Lord when he said that the Church will remain victorious, even against the forces of hell. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus says to Peter and to the rest of the Disciples,

On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.