Most Americans regard themselves as being spiritual, but almost one-quarter of them say that has nothing to do with religion, a new Pew Research Center survey shows.
Overall, 70% of respondents said they are spiritual, with 48% describing themselves as “spiritual and religious” and 22% saying they are “spiritual but not religious,” the Pew survey found.
The survey follows and bolsters earlier studies and reports showing that fewer Americans identify with an organized religion. In May, the Southern Baptist Convention reported it lost 457,371 members in 2022, a decline that erased decades of growth. At the end of 2021, Pew reported that self-identified Christians comprised 63% of the U.S. population, down from 75% a decade earlier, with 29% saying they had no religion.
Yet spirituality remains important among Americans, the survey found:
• 83% of respondents said people possess a spirit or soul along with a physical body.
• 81% said something spiritual exists beyond the natural world, even if it is not visible.
• 74% said there are some things in life and the world that cannot be explained by science.
What’s more, 45% of adults said they had “a sudden feeling of connection with something from beyond this world,” and 30% said they had “personally encountered a spirit or unseen spiritual force.”
Spiritual beliefs carry through to concepts of an afterlife, the survey revealed. Half of respondents said spirits can inhabit graveyards, cemeteries or other sites, and 48% said mountains, rivers, trees and other parts of the natural landscape can have spirits or spiritual energy.
Fifty-seven percent said people “definitely or probably can reunite” with deceased loved ones, and 46% said the dead can help, guide or protect the living. Forty-four percent said the dead know what’s happening among the living, and 42% said the dead can communicate with the living.
Practices among the spiritually aware vary: 9% have received a tattoo or piercing for a spiritual reason, but more than a third said they have a cross for spiritual purses. Fifteen percent said they maintain a shrine, altar or icon at home, and 12% said they have crystals for spiritual use.
Of those identifying as “spiritual but not religious,” 59% said a regular connection with nature is “essential” to their spirituality. While 45% of this group said they have a religious affiliation, they don’t see themselves as religious or say religion is very important to them. In addition, 42% said religion causes division and intolerance.
Pew said its survey involved 11,201 members of its American Test Panel group and was conducted July 31-Aug. 6. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1.4 percentage points.
The full report is online at Pew’s website.
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