An Axios mid-November article, titled “Drop in U.S. Religiosity Among Largest in World,” reported on data from the Gallup World Poll, highlighting a profound and rapid decline in the importance of religion in American life. The article’s central finding is that the United States is undergoing one of the fastest rates of secularization observed worldwide over the past decade.
The data reveals a dramatic 17-percentage-point drop in the share of U.S. adults who say religion is an important part of their daily life. This metric fell from 66% in 2015 to just 49% in the latest measurements. This steep rate of decline ranks among the largest 10-year shifts measured by Gallup in any country since tracking began in 2007. Only a few, mostly wealthy nations—such as Greece, Italy, and Poland—have experienced larger declines during comparable periods.
This shift positions the U.S. in a unique global category. Despite the rapid decline, the U.S. still ranks above the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development median for religiosity, which hovers around 36%. However, it now falls significantly below the global median, which has remained consistently stable at over 80% for nearly two decades.
The article emphasizes that the U.S. no longer fits its historical model of high religious identity coupled with high daily importance. The current percentage of Americans who identify as Christian is now similar to that of secular Western European nations like the United Kingdom and Germany. Conversely, the importance Americans place on religion in their day-to-day lives is now more comparable to historically Catholic nations such as Argentina, Ireland, and Poland. The report concludes that this concentrated, decade-long transition signifies a fundamental cultural shift, moving the U.S. toward the secular norms of other developed Western economies.
The Queer God Squad asks: Is this good news? And if not, what can progressive religious communities do to reinvigorate their kinder, gentler brand of Christianity?
