Changing religions not uncommon, survey says

Americans change religious affiliation early, often and for a variety of reasons.

So say officials from the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life, citing their "Faith in Flux: Changes in Religious Affiliation in the U.S." survey released Monday.

Other highlights: About half of the nearly 2,900 surveyed — 44 percent — have changed from their childhood faith; many of those have changed more than once; and most changing faiths did so before the age of 24.

"Faith in Flux" is a follow-up to last year's "U.S. Religious Landscape Survey" from the Washington, D.C.-based independent think tank. The 2,867 participants in the "Flux" survey are 80 percent of those who identified themselves on the original survey as having changed their religion.

The interviews were done with the three largest populations of those changing affiliation — Catholics, Protestants and the "unaffiliated." Other religious groups — including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — had segments too small to survey and to appropriately represent national trends.

Pew Forum senior fellow John Green noted that "change is not a reflection of decreased spiritual commitment" but rather a reflection of a "marketplace" of religious options.

"Because American religion is so diverse, it shouldn't surprise us that the reasons people change religion are so diverse," Green said.

Most former Catholics who are now unaffiliated or have joined Protestant faiths say their decision was prompted by feelings of unfulfilled spiritual needs as well as having stopped believing Catholic teachings, particularly in abortion, homosexuality and birth control.

The Protestant religions included both "mainstream" and "evangelical" faiths, and those who change religion with the Protestant segment often do so because of lifestyle changes — 40 percent because of a move to a new community and almost as many because of marriage.

Also, those changing from Catholic and Protestant faiths didn't cite just one sole reason for a change but often as many as four or five factors.

About half of those self-labeled as unaffiliated (including but not limited to atheists and agnostics) say they see religious people as being hypocritical and judgmental, organized religion as rule-obsessed and religious leaders as seeking power and money.

However, Pew surveys show that while the unaffiliated comprise the fastest growing population, it is also the segment with the lowest rate of retention among major groups, with most who were raised unaffiliated now affiliated with a religion.

Pew Forum director Luis Lugo says the latest survey offers both good and bad news — the bad being a "decrease in brand loyalty" with larger faiths.