Throughout the election year thus far, a key term has been "change." Change of administration, policies and power, and more recently, change of religion.

A survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reveals that 40 percent of Americans will opt for a different faith than the one they grew up with. More than a quarter of American adults have left the faith of their upbringing in favor of some alternative (including no religion at all). As far as Protestantism itself is concerned, 44 percent have switched religious affiliation or have abandoned religious tradition altogether.

For the most part, Catholicism hasn't seen as significant of a drop as Protestantism, due to the demographic of immigrants from largely Catholic nations.

The group of "unaffiliated" Americans is faring the best, as it gains more people than it loses. About a quarter of Americans aged 18 to 29 are not affiliated with any religion. It is important to note, however, that not necessarily everyone in this group is unreligious.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 at 1:46 pm and is filed under Current. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.