The number of Americans who say they believe in God is down six percentage points from 2017, according to a Gallup poll revealed on Friday. The number dipped from 87% to 81%, and is the lowest number on record since 1944, when the public opinion polling company first asked the question.  

The Values and Belief poll was conducted May 2 through 22 across all 50 U.S. states—including the Bible Belt—and the District of Columbia, and points to a continued trend in lowering faith among Americans. 

“In the age of endless pronouns, drag queen shows for children, and banshees demanding abortion rights up until the moment of birth, it may come as no surprise that the number of Americans who say they believe in God has dropped to an all-time low,” said Brittany Hughes in her article covering the survey on LifeNews.com.

In 1944, when Gallup first asked the question, 98% of respondents said they believed in God. That number was consistent when the survey was taken again in 1947, twice in the 1950s, and twice in the 1960s. But when the question was asked nearly five decades later, in 2011, the number had dropped to 92%. 

A subsequent survey in 2013 found belief in God dipping below 90% to 87%, roughly where it stood in three subsequent updates between 2014 and 2017 before this year’s drop to 81%.

Younger people and those on the left, whom Gallup found were more likely to say they did not believe in God, made up most of the change, however. 

“Belief in God has fallen the most in recent years among young adults and people on the left of the political spectrum (liberals and Democrats),” wrote author Jeffrey Jones, on gallup.com.

Those who identified as Democrats showed a 12% drop in their belief in God, while those aged 18 to 29 represented the second biggest drop in faith with a 10% fall in belief in God since the last survey.

Gallup said the results of the 2022 survey showed that “religiosity is a major determinant of political divisions in the US,” pointing to a 92% belief in God among Republicans and 94% among “political conservatives.” 

Responders who identified as being on the right of the political divide were essentially unchanged in their belief in God, according to Gallup. More than half of this group (54%) also thought God listened to their prayers and intervened, in comparison to 32% of Democrats who believed in God. 

As a country, Americans have shown high levels of faith in God for decades with 2011 and 2013 marking the beginnings of a decline. Many countries in western Europe have far lower levels of belief in God, in comparison, with a Pew Research Center study in 2019 finding belief in God in the Germany at 60%, the UK at 58%, and France at 56%.

Photo: Alamy