New religious typology expands categories of the faithful, faithless

New religious typology expands categories of the faithful, faithless

More than 80 percent of Alabamians say they are “absolutely certain” of their belief in God, yet only half attend religious services weekly. Nationally, nearly a quarter of U.S. adults describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated, yet many in this group say they believe in God and pray every day.

As the American religious landscape changes rapidly, observers are at a loss for words to describe the millions of people who don’t fit neatly into categories like “religious” or “nones.” In an effort to create a more comprehensive way to talk about religion, the Pew Research Center has unveiled seven new categories for describing faith, and the lack of it, in America.

‘Fresh look’

The project is titled “The Religious Typology: A new way to categorize Americans by religion.”

In it, Pew researchers ask new questions to uncover previously unseen attitudes and practices that connect Americans across traditional religious groups.

Pew even created an online quiz to help individuals determine their religious type.

“This was an exercise to get a fresh look at things,” said Becka Alper, a research associate and one of the primary researchers on the typology project.

“This analysis shows us that when you reshuffle the deck in this way, you can see that Americans have a lot in common with people of other religious affiliations,” Alper said.

So, instead of identifying U.S. adults by what denomination or religious tradition they belong to — or as agnostics or atheists or “nones” — the Pew study identifies seven new categories that group people by behaviors and beliefs.

Pew identified:

• Sunday Stalwarts as the most religious group of Americans. They actively practice their faith and are heavily involved in congregations.

• God-and-Country Believers. They are less active in faith-based institutions but, like the stalwarts, adhere to traditional beliefs and are more likely to be conservative on social and political issues.

• The Diversely Devout, who are diverse in belief and demographics and who express belief in both the God “described in the Bible” but also in “physics, reincarnation and spiritual energy located in physical things.”

• The Solidly Secular. They occupy the other end of the spectrum and are the least religious of all the categories. Largely affluent, highly educated and mostly white males, this group usually describes itself as neither spiritual nor religious. They tend to reject biblical and New Age beliefs alike.

• Religion Resisters, who often hold negative views of organized faith, believe churches are too influential in politics and see religion as more harmful than good. Generally liberal and Democratic leaning, they also hold beliefs “in some higher power or spiritual force (but not the God of the Bible)” and may embrace New Age concepts. They are likely to describe themselves as spiritual but not religious.

The Relaxed

• The Relaxed Religious. This group believes in the biblical concept of God and many of them pray daily. However, few of them attend services or read Scripture. They are likely to hold that belief in God isn’t necessary to be a moral person.

• The Spiritually Awake, who hold some New Age views and many of whom do not believe in the biblical concept of God. Few attend religious services on a weekly basis.

One fact uncovered in the research is that none of the new types are exclusive to a particular denomination. About two-thirds of Sunday Stalwarts say their religious faith is the single most important source of meaning in their lives.
“This shows that members of widely disparate religious traditions sometimes have a lot in common: Sunday Stalwarts, for instance, are largely Protestant, but also include Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and others.”

But Sunday Stalwarts also are influenced by New Age beliefs, with about 3 in 10 people in this group saying they believe in psychics and a spiritual energy in physical objects in the natural world. Virtually none of the Relaxed Religious or the Solidly Secular hold such beliefs.

Political ideology

Political ideology was not used to create the new categories. However, Republicans make up a majority of Sunday Stalwarts and God-and-Country Believers, and Democrats comprise the large majority of Religion Resisters and Solidly Secular.

The question of morality also provided guidance in creating the categories, the Pew report said. The question “Can you be moral without believing in God?” separates the highly religious from the other groups. For the three highly religious groups, belief in God is a prerequisite for being a good person. By contrast, most in the somewhat religious and nonreligious groups hold that it is not necessary for a person to believe in God to be moral and have good values.

Pew researchers said the religious typology offers a new lens with which to glean new insights into religious and public life in the U.S. Unlike other surveys which compare groups by commonly understood categories, such as Catholics, Jews and Muslims, the typology allows comparisons between groups of people with similar characteristics, regardless of religious affiliation. Therefore, religious tradition, or lack thereof, does not affect placement in a typology group.

The 16-question quiz developed by Pew helps individuals determine their type and see how they compare with others.

To take the quiz, go to www.PewForum.org/quiz/religious-typology. (BNG, TAB contributed)