Merry Christmas! Fewer Americans Than Ever Think Religion Can Solve Our Problems
By Hemant Mehta, December 25, 2018

As you celebrate the holiday (or don’t), Gallup has revealed that fewer Americans than ever before think religion can actually provide answers to the problems we face. Only 46% of Americans believe wishful thinking is our best bet against our very real struggles.

Jon Stewart once joked, “Religion. It’s given people hope in a world torn apart by religion.” But even that’s no longer the case for a majority of people.

As Americans’ views of the importance of religion in their lives and its influence on American life have edged downward, so too has their belief that it can answer today’s problems. For the first time in more than six decades, less than half of Americans, 46%, say “religion can answer all or most of today’s problems.” The public is now more closely divided than ever before in its views of religion as the answer to what ails society.

None of this is all that surprising when you realize that white evangelical leaders have supported everything Donald Trump is doing to ruin the country, Catholic leaders continue to act shocked about sexual crimes and cover-ups within their own ranks, and groups like Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses have been exposed for their own ignorance of abuse. Religion seems to cause more problems than it solves. And the worst politicians in the country seem to be the ones who cite their religion the most.