- Most Americans remain in their childhood religion because they continue to believe its teachings, feel spiritually fulfilled by it, and find meaning for life through it, a recent Pew Research Center survey discovered.
- Community, familiarity, traditions, and agreement with social or political teachings matter to some but are secondary to belief and spiritual fulfillment.
- Protestants are more likely than Catholics to stay due to strong belief in doctrine, while Catholics stay because they find spiritual fulfillment; political identity also correlates, with Republicans more likely than Democrats to remain religious.
- Those who leave most often stop believing the teachings, drift away over time, or say religion became unimportant to them. Social or political disagreements and clergy scandals also impact decisions to leave.
Following a survey that found about one in 10 adults globally leave their childhood religion, the Pew Research Center questioned why most people stay with the beliefs they were raised with, finding a strong adherence to doctrine and a compelling need for spiritual fulfillment.
Pew discovered that 64% of U.S. adults say the fact that they still believe their childhood religion’s teachings is an extremely or very important reason for them to still practice the religion they grew up in. Sixty-one percent said their childhood religion fulfills their spiritual needs, and 56% said they find meaning for life in their childhood religion. Significant minorities said that their childhood religion brings a sense of community (44%), familiarity, (39%), traditions (39%), or appealing teachings on social and political issues (32%).
>> Pew: 1 in 10 adults globally leave childhood religions, Buddhists top list <<
Protestants were more likely than Catholics to say that they are still practicing their childhood religion because of a strong adherence to the religion’s teachings (70% vs. 53%). Catholics who grew up in the religion were likely to say that they are still Catholic because it fulfills their spiritual needs (54%). Fourteen percent of those who were raised Catholic are now Protestant, Pew discovered.
Pew also asked Americans who left their childhood religions what factors influenced their decision to switch religions or become religiously unaffiliated. The most common answer was that they had stopped believing the religion’s teachings (46%). Others said that the religion became unimportant in their lives (38%), and some said they just “gradually drifted away” (38%). Roughly one-third said they left because of their former religion’s teachings on social and political issues, and a similar amount said scandals surrounding clergy or religious leaders influenced their decisions to leave.
Those who switched religions most often said they felt “called to a new faith” and left their childhood beliefs, while those who are now religiously unaffiliated tended to say that they stopped believing in their childhood religion’s teachings, Pew discovered.
The survey also found that most Americans who had a positive experience with a particular religion as children were extremely likely to continue with the same religion as adults, while the opposite was true for those who had negative experiences. Being raised in a high-religiosity household was also a contributing factor for retaining childhood religions. Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say that they are still practicing the religion they grew up in (73% vs. 56%), and Democrats who grew up religious are more likely than Republicans who were raised religious to be religiously unaffiliated.
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