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GOD IS ALIVE AND WELL: THE FUTURE OF RELIGION IN AMERICA

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By Frank Newport, Gallup Editor-in-Chief

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

For more information, contact:
Lauren Kannry
202-715-3050 or lauren_kannry@gallup.com

Washington, D.C. — December 4, 2012 — Popular books by the “New Atheists” dismiss religion as a delusional artifact of ancient superstitions. “However, millions of Americans’ religious beliefs and behaviors should not be tossed aside that quickly,” says Dr. Frank Newport, Gallup Editor-in-Chief and noted public opinion expert. “It is possible that religion will be more significant in years ahead, and we may be on the cusp of a religious renaissance.”

In his new book, GOD IS ALIVE AND WELL (Gallup Press; Hardcover; December 4, 2012), Dr. Newport finds that religion is as powerful and influential as it’s ever been in America. “Whether or not God is a ‘delusion,’” says Newport, “religion has enormous personal and social consequences, particularly for those who are extremely religious.”

The book is based on more than a million interviews Gallup has conducted since 2008. Dr. Newport analyzes this unparalleled and unprecedented database of information about Americans and their religions — revealing just how powerfully intertwined religion is with every aspect of society.

Dr. Newport looks at religion in America through the lenses of age, gender, class, race, family status, geographic region, and more. He reveals that baby boomers are likely to become more religious as they age, discusses the growing trend toward “unbranded religion,” and highlights Americans’ migration to more culturally religious states.

According to Newport, the votes of religious Americans may become the next major partisan battleground in American politics. “The Republican Party’s monopoly on the loyalty of religious white Protestants has given it a highly motivated core of voters. This has in turn had a profound effect on American politics. That could change,” says Newport. “The Democratic Party is increasingly aware of its weak positioning among religious Americans, and it knows it must ‘get religion’ to win votes in the future.”

Dr. Newport also predicts that Americans will increasingly recognize the mounting evidence that religious people have higher wellbeing, better emotional health, and in some instances better physical health than those who are not religious. “Baby boomers will increasingly look for ways to maintain or expand their wellbeing and happiness in future years. They may increasingly seek out religion as part of that quest,” predicts Newport.

America will likely become a more religious nation in the years ahead, albeit different than it is today. “The evidence in this book suggests that America could continue to blaze its own religious trail with religion changing, morphing, and transmuting itself into new but still vibrant forms,” says Newport.

GOD IS ALIVE AND WELLincludes bold predictions for the future of religion in America — with a compelling review of why religion may be a growth industry in the years ahead rather than a relic of the past.


GOD IS ALIVE AND WELL: THE FUTURE OF RELIGION IN AMERICA

Gallup Press
Author: Frank Newport
Publication date: December 4, 2012
Price: $24.95, hardcover, 288 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1-59562-062-0

About Gallup

Gallup’s forward-thinking research, analytics, and advice help leaders solve their most pressing problems. Combining more than 75 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes and behaviors of the world’s constituents, employees, and customers than any other organization. Gallup consultants help private and public-sector organizations boost organic growth through measurement tools, strategic advice, and education. Gallup’s 2,000 professionals deliver services at client organizations, through the Web, and in more than 40 offices around the world. Learn more at www.gallup.com.

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Quick facts

• America is likely to become a more religious nation in the years ahead, albeit one that may look a lot different, religiously speaking, than it does today. • Religious Americans have higher wellbeing. Religion is good for your health. • Religious institutions will probably have to give women more power in the future because of this contradiction: Even though women are more religious than men, some religious institutions deny women access to higher positions in their organizations. • Religious intensity is correlated with Republican political identity in the United States today. Democrats will most likely realize that they will have to relate their political philosophy to religion if they are to compete for the valuable bloc of religious voters. • Based on their religious characteristics and their stance on many moral and values issues, blacks in America should be more Republican than they are. The paradox of blacks being simultaneously the most religious and the most Democratic race or ethnic group in America is fascinating. • One of the biggest trends in religion is the trend toward being “religious with no name.” Increasingly, Americans don’t have a religious identity, or they identify with broad religious labels rather than with specific denominations. Unbranded, nondenominational religions and megachurches are growing. • Baby boomers will most likely become more religious as they age. Given the sheer size of the baby boomer generation, the entire nation will thus tilt more religious in the years ahead. • Young Americans are having fewer children. This could affect their likelihood of becoming religious. If Americans become more likely to remain childless, everything else being equal, they will not be nearly as likely to become more religious as they age through their 20s and 30s. • There are huge differences in religiousness across the states of the union. Not only are some state cultures more religious than others, if you move to a state that’s very religious, you will probably become more religious yourself. No matter what your religious identity, if you live in Vermont (least religious state in the country), you are less religious than if you have the same religious identity and live in Mississippi (most religious state in country). • Different social classes “use” religion for different reasons. Upper-class, more educated people use religion less for its personal value and more for its communal, social value compared with Americans in lower classes. • Religiousness is strongly correlated with being married, but it’s unclear if marriage causes religiousness or if religiousness causes marriage — or if there is no causal relationship at all.
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