38 Percent of Americans Believe Religion Makes the Country Stronger, Poll Finds

According to a national study by Ipsos and the Episcopal Church, nearly 4 in 10 American adults believe that religion in the U.S. makes the country stronger.

The poll, ‘“Jesus in America,” found that 38 percent of respondents believe that religion “makes the country stronger.” This was the most selected response. Conversely, 28 percent of respondents believe that religion in the U.S. “divides the country,” 20 percent were unsure and seven percent said it has no effect.

The study also found that six percent of respondents believe religion “makes the country weaker.

Among those who said religion divides the country were Christians (21 percent), members of other religions (38 percent), and non-religious persons (50 percent).

As reported by The Christian Post, the poll showed that just 11 percent believe the January 6 Capitol riots were affiliated with an organized religion, particularly Evangelicalism or Protestantism. About half of Christian respondents and 76 percent of non-Christian respondents agreed with this view.

Sixty-three percent of respondents, however, said the protests had no religious association, and 25 percent said they did not know or did not want to answer.

The survey also found that Generation Z Americans (born after 1996) were somewhat less likely to be non-religious than millennials (born between 1981 and 1996).

Roughly 24 percent of Gen Z respondents and 28 percent of millennials identified as non-religious, whereas 12 percent of baby boomers and 18 percent of Generation Xers identified as non-religious.

Respondents also shared whether their view of Jesus Christ had shifted within the last five to eight years. Among Gen Zers, 76 percent said their opinion had changed in a positive way. Sixty-five percent of millennials said the same thing.

The survey, which was conducted from November 22 to December 2, 2021, included a nationally representative sample of 3,119 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/- 2.0 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

Related:

Churchgoers Are More Likely Than Others to Express Satisfaction in Relationships: Barna

Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Ehrlif 

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer. He is also the co-hosts of the For Your Soul podcast, which seeks to equip the church with biblical truth and sound doctrine. Visit his blog Blessed Are The Forgiven.

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