Confidence in organized religion hits all-time low in the US
July 14, 2012: According to a recent Gallup poll, the number of Americans who have
faith in organized religion is at an all-time low. Only 44 percent of Americans today
have a lot of confidence in organized religion, compared to 66 percent in 1973 when
organized religion or church was the highest rated institution in Gallup’s “confidence
in institutions measure.”
Organized religion and the Church “continued to rank
first in most years through 1985, outranking the military and the U.S. Supreme Court,
among others,” as reported by the Gallup study. American confidence in organized religion
first began to fall in the mid to late 80′s, falling below 60 percent for the first
time. The consistent decline may be tied back to the scandals and crimes associated
with the church since, the poll stated.
When divided by religious preference,
the poll showed that Protestants were more confident in organized religion than Catholics.
56 percent of Protestants had a lot of confidence in organized religion/church compared
to 46 percent of Catholics.
This year the church or organized religion ranked
fourth amongst the 16 institutions surveyed tying it with medical institutions. The
poll concluded that two major findings are revealed through this trend:
“First,
the long-term decline in Americans’ confidence in this societal institution since
1973, and second, the suppressed confidence among Catholics relative to Protestants
starting in 1981, and becoming more pronounced by 2002.”