Moving Forward: COVID-19 reignites religious faith in United States
For centuries, people have looked to religion for purpose, clarity and community, orienting their livelihoods around it. The ability to unify under shared belief systems offered us an advantage that propelled humanity to the top of the food chain.
Religious groups’ emigration set the stage for the founding of the United States. While the United States is secular, religious values permeate many aspects of the American experience — our currency reads “In God We Trust” and our Pledge of Allegiance references “one Nation under God.”
Recently, religious faith has been declining. In the 1950s, 1-2% of the U.S. population identified with no religion, but in 2020, this number has risen to 20%, according to a Gallup poll. The younger population is the most disconnected from religion — 21% of Generation Z described themselves as atheist or agnostic, according to a 2018 study conducted by Barna.