WASHINGTON LETTER
For the second time in the history of the United States, a Catholic president is installed in the White House. Of Irish descent like his distant predecessor John Kennedy, Joe Biden makes no secret of his faith as evidenced by his weekly visits to church in Washington and in his chosen state of Delaware. This practitioner triumphed over a leaver unfamiliar with church services but still actively supported by the Protestant evangelical current. The election of Joe Biden, however, coincides with a major shift reported by the venerable Gallup polling institute in a survey published on March 29.
For the first time since the creation of the barometer measuring membership of a religious community, before the start of the Second World War, the percentage of Americans affiliated to “A church, a synagogue or a mosque” has indeed fallen below 50% (47%). The curve published by Gallup is impressive. After a relative stability from 1940 to 1990, a period during which this rate did not cease oscillating around 70% (76% at its highest, in 1945), a regular decrease begins that nothing seems to have to reverse.
The push of the “without”
The phenomenon is fueled by a double phenomenon: the rate of people who identify with a religion is constantly decreasing, and this identification pushes them less and less to belong to a religious community. The phenomenon is general and the generation of Americans born before 1946 is a good example. These “traditionalists”, as Gallup defines them, formed the foundation of communities twenty years ago with a membership rate of 77% which has fallen to 66% in two decades. This generation had only 4% of people without religious affiliation in 1998-2000, whereas they are now 7%.
A study by the Pew Research Center, in 2019, had already highlighted the intersection of two curves in 2014. A majority of people questioned (54%) then claimed to attend a religious service at least once a month while a minority (45%) claimed to do so “A few times a year, or less”. Very irregular practitioners now prevail (54%) over regulars (45%).
The historic result recorded by Gallup is the counterpoint to the push for “sans” (religion) in American society. This community by default is now in the majority, with more than a quarter of the population, if we consider that the Christian majority which still brings together two thirds of Americans is divided first of all between Catholics (20% according to Pew) and Protestants (43%), and within them in a myriad of sub-groups (Whites, Blacks, “mainstream”, evangelicals). Above all, the “without” have been growing steadily over the past thirty years (6% at the start of the 1990s) while Catholics and Protestants are constantly losing their faithful.
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