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secularization. Half of Canadians identify as agnostic,
atheist, or no specific religion. A mere 11% of Canadians
attend any kind of religious service on a weekly basis. A
full 89% of Canadians do not attend religious services
weekly. Those affiliating with evangelical churches have
dropped from 12% of the population in 1996 to 9% in
2015, to 6% in 2019.
The United States is not much better. Pew Research
Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019
revealed that 65% of American adults describe
themselves as Christians. This is down 12 percentage
points over the past decade. Conversely, 26% of
Americans now identify as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing
in particular.” This is up from 17% in 2009.
Both Protestantism and Catholicism are experiencing
declines in faithful congregates. Currently, 43% of U.S.
adults identify with Protestantism, down from 51% in
2009. One-in-five adults (20%) are Catholic, down from
23% in 2009. Meanwhile, self-described atheists now
account for 4% of U.S. adults, up significantly from 2% in
2009. Agnostics make up 5% of U.S. adults, up from 3%
a decade ago; and 17% of Americans now describe their
religion as “nothing in particular.” This is up from 12% in
2009. Meanwhile, members of non-Christian faiths such
as Muslim and Buddhist have seen increases in
population over the past decade.
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