A growing number of Americans believe religion is regaining influence in society, marking a sharp turn from previous years of decline. According to Pew Research Center’s February 2025 survey, 31% of U.S. adults say religion is gaining influence in American life — a substantial increase from 18% in February 2024.
This is the highest level recorded in fifteen years, reflecting renewed public engagement with spiritual and moral ideas amid cultural and political polarization. While most Americans still say religion’s role is shrinking, that majority fell from 80% in 2024 to 68% in 2025 — a notable 12-point drop within one year.
The trend is visible across party lines, age groups, and religious affiliations, signaling a broader reevaluation of faith’s place in modern American life.
Positive Perceptions of Religion Rise Nationwide
Overall, 59% of U.S. adults now express a positive view of religion’s influence in public life, an increase that spans multiple demographics and ideologies. This group includes those who say religion’s impact is expanding and view that change as good, as well as those who view decreasing influence as a national loss.
By contrast, only 20% of Americans hold a negative view of religion’s societal role, while 21% remain neutral or uncertain. These numbers indicate not only greater optimism about religion’s influence but also a renewed sense that moral and spiritual principles can guide public conversation constructively.
The Pew data shows that after years of skepticism and secular cultural trends, a quiet but measurable religious reawakening is taking shape among Americans.
How Demographics Shape Religious Optimism
Positive views of religion are not limited to one demographic segment but appear widespread among diverse populations. About 92% of White evangelical Protestants view religion’s role positively, reflecting long-standing conservative cultural values emphasizing moral order and social cohesion.
Black Protestants (75%), Catholics (71%), and mainline White Protestants (67%) also show strong positivity toward religion’s civic influence. However, just 11% of agnostics and 6% of atheists share similar sentiments, underscoring ideological divides surrounding religion’s place in political or public affairs.
Jewish Americans and religiously unaffiliated adults are nearly evenly split between positive and negative views of religion’s impact, reflecting a more pluralistic mindset. Political polarization also remains evident. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (78%) are nearly twice as likely as Democrats (40%) to see religion’s role favorably.
The Age Factor: Older Americans Still Lead in Faith
Generational patterns persist, though attitudes are slowly converging. Older Americans (ages 65 and above) remain the most likely to hold positive views — with 71% saying religion’s influence on public life is beneficial. Among adults ages 18 to 29, fewer than half (46%) share that sentiment, though this marks a small rise from previous years.
Encouragingly, since 2019, every age group has reported at least a modest increase in their positive outlook toward religion, hinting at a generational rebalancing of views. Young Americans exposed to social upheaval, mental health challenges, and political division may be turning toward spirituality as a source of meaning and community stability.
Religion and Mainstream Culture: Growing Sense of Conflict
Another striking finding in Pew’s 2025 data is the growing perception that personal religious beliefs increasingly clash with mainstream American culture. A majority — 58% of adults — now feel at least some conflict between their faith and prevailing cultural norms, up ten points from 2024 and sixteen points since 2020.
This sense of dissonance cuts across religious affiliation, party identification, and age bracket. White evangelicals (80%) are the most likely to say their beliefs conflict with cultural expectations, followed by majorities in nearly all other large faith communities.
Interestingly, both Republicans (62%) and Democrats (55%) report a growing feeling of cultural tension tied to faith. This shows broad-based unease with the perceived direction of popular culture, government priorities, or moral standards.
Christianity’s Influence and Public Perception
Pew’s May 2025 follow-up survey takes this further, exploring perceptions of Christianity’s position in American public life. Nearly half of Americans (48%) say Christianity’s influence is decreasing, while 27% say it is growing, and 24% see little change.
These figures underline a perception gap: even as more people believe religion broadly is regaining ground, Christianity specifically is still viewed by many as losing visibility. However, the share who say Christianity’s influence is increasing has risen notably — from 19% in 2020 to 27% in 2025, the highest in years.
This may reflect renewed political and social mobilization among Christian groups across regions of the country seeking a stronger moral voice in civic discourse.
Religion and Patriotism: Do Americans Link Faith and Country?
The May 2025 survey adds a new dimension by asking whether “loving your country” is an essential part of being Christian, Jewish, or generally “a good person.”
Among Christians, 29% say patriotism is essential, 47% call it important but not essential, and 24% say it is not important.
Republican Christians (33%) are somewhat more likely than Democratic Christians (23%) to say loving their country is central to faith identity.
Among Jewish respondents, 22% say patriotism is essential to Jewish identity, while nearly half (46%) say it is not important.
For religiously unaffiliated Americans, 16% say loving their country is essential to being a good person, while four in ten view it as not important.
Overall, these findings reveal a more nuanced relationship between faith and national identity, suggesting that spirituality often transcends political or patriotic symbolism.
Americans and the Search for Religious Truth
Pew also examined perceptions of truth across religions. Close to half of all Americans (48%) say many religions may contain truth — a perspective emphasizing humility, diversity, and tolerance in a multi-faith society.
About 26% believe only one religion is true, while 18% believe there is little truth in any, and 6% say there is none at all.
White evangelicals stand out, with 62% asserting that only one religion is true, reflecting a more exclusive theological position.
By contrast, most Catholics (65%) and mainline Protestants (69%) say multiple faiths can share truth.
Among atheists and agnostics, skepticism is higher, though a notable minority still say different religions contain some measure of truth.
The data suggests most Americans, regardless of party or generation, recognize value in diverse belief systems and traditions.
What the Shift in Attitudes Means for America’s Future
Pew’s 2025 findings reveal a subtle but powerful transformation in public sentiment toward religion — one that blends renewed spirituality with cultural tension.
Many Americans now see faith not as a private retreat but as a moral counterbalance in a world perceived as fragmented and uncertain. The growing number of people who both value religion’s social influence and feel cultural conflict because of faith hints at a deeper negotiation between identity and modernity.
For policymakers, educators, and community leaders, these results underscore the continuing relevance of religion in shaping American values, belonging, and discourse. As the United States navigates economic, social, and political transformation, faith remains both an anchor and a lightning rod — uniting some, dividing others, yet persistently shaping the nation’s collective conscience.