NASHVILLE (BP) — Despite reports that the number of the religiously unaffiliated has flatlined in the U.S., a new study on “religious switching” says this is not the case globally.
A Pew Research survey of 36 countries published last month said those disaffiliating with religion altogether substantially outpaced the number moving in the opposite direction.
South Korea brought the most movement, as half of adults surveyed said they have switched from the religion they had as a child. Thirty-one percent of respondents have moved on to no religion. By comparison, 28% of those in the U.S. told the survey they have switched religions, 20% are disaffiliating from religion.
Not surprisingly, the predominant religion of a country reflected the largest number of those leaving a certain faith. In Japan, the vast majority of the 27% leaving religion had been Buddhist. A similar trend came about in Singapore with 13% becoming disaffiliated, and nearly half of those were formerly Buddhist.
Worldwide, Christianity lost the most members. Practically all of the 35% in Spain who said they were no longer religious claimed to be Christian in their childhood. Both Sweden and Germany reported that 29% of respondents were formerly Christian and moved away later in life.
When looking at the number of those who have left Christianity versus those who have joined, Italy reflects the largest ratio. According to the Pew study, for every person in the country who became a Christian in adulthood, 28.4 left the faith at the same stage of life. In Germany, there are nearly 20 adults who considered themselves Christians as children but no longer do for every one person who became a Christian as an adult. The ratio for the U.S. is 6:1.
Recent studies have also indicated that the decline of Christianity in America — at least in terms of numbers — has stabilized while the ascent of Nones has plateaued.
The studies may appear to be contradictory. But factors such as birth rates and immigration are in play, explained Aaron Earls, senior writer for Lifeway Research.
“The 6:1 (ratio) is only the switching rate,” he said. “It does not include those being raised in a faith and adopting that as an adult or those immigrating to the U.S. Those numbers add to the Christian percentage.
“Most Americans still identify as Christian and are raised as Christians, so Christians have more coming into their ranks as children into adulthood than the Nones. Christians tend to have more kids than Nones. So even if the rate leaving Christianity is higher than the rate leaving Nones, Christianity could be stable (or even growing) just based on the number of kids being born to practicing parents who continue to identify as Christian when they become adults.”
The Pew survey acknowledged that those switching religions could have made that choice at any time. It wasn’t possible to know, for instance, if disaffiliated adults older than 50 had done so recently or long ago, maybe even in their teens or early 20s. Furthermore, some may have walked away from the faith when younger and returned later in life.
Some countries and faiths produced very little movement.
Small percentages left or joined Islam, for instance. Also, most people who were raised Jewish in the U.S. or Israel and nearly all those raised Hindu in India and Bangladesh remain in those faiths.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Scott Barkley is chief national correspondent for Baptist Press.)
