People are abandoning Christianity so fast that it could represent less than half the US population in 50 years

According to a new survey from the Pew Research Center, when the year 2070 rolls around, people who identify as Christian could end up representing less than half of the U.S. population.

Christians could end up representing as little as a third of the population in 50 years, according to the survey. “Nones,” or the religiously unaffiliated, could make up close to half of the population. Americans who identify as Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and other non-Christian faiths could double in the years to come.

“While the scenarios in this report vary in the extent of religious disaffiliation they project, they all show Christians continuing to shrink as a share of the U.S. population, even under the counterfactual assumption that all switching came to a complete stop in 2020,” Pew reports. “At the same time, the unaffiliated are projected to grow under all four scenarios.”

From Religion News Service:

Currently, about a third (31%) of Christians become disaffiliated before they turn 30, according to Pew Research. Twenty-one percent of nones become Christian as young adults. Should those switching rates remain stable, Christians would make up 46% of the population by 2070, while nones would make up 41% percent of the population.

If disaffiliation rates continue to grow but are capped at 50% of Christians leaving the faith, then 39% percent of Americans are projected to be Christian by 2070, with 48% percent of Americans identifying as nones. With no limit placed on the percentage of people leaving Christianity and with continued growth in disaffiliation, Christians would be 35% of the population, with nones making up a majority of Americans (52%).

Read the full report over at Religion News Service.

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.