In a different way, politics and policy also separate God-and-Country Believers from all other groups. And fully two-thirds say immigrants are a threat to American values and customs, the largest share of any group.
But in other ways related to their religious practices and beliefs, the predominantly middle-aged and female God-and-Country Believers more closely resemble the Diversely Devout than they do Sunday Stalwarts. Similarly, about one-in-seven in each group say they read the Bible at least once a day vs. And both God-and-Country Believers and the Diversely Devout are defined in part by their absolutism on the question of God and morality, with nine-in-ten or more saying it is necessary to believe in God to live a moral life and have good values.
On many measures of religious practice and belief, God-and-Country Believers fall squarely between the two other highly religious groups. About four-in-ten say religion is the single most important source of meaning in their lives, well below Sunday Stalwarts but above the Diversely Devout.
Their New Age beliefs and their demographic profile set the Diversely Devout apart from other highly religious Americans. While substantial majorities value religion and consider themselves to be religious, they are the only highly religious group in which majorities also embrace a variety of New Age beliefs.
They also are the least likely to be registered to vote. And they tend to be more liberal than other highly religious Americans on social issues. They are less likely than Sunday Stalwarts or God-and-Country Believers to say homosexual behavior is morally wrong or that the country has made enough changes to give black people equal rights with whites.
Demographic differences also set the Diversely Devout apart from other religious Americans. Making ends meet is a struggle for many of the Diversely Devout. About four-in-ten live in a household that received food stamp benefits in the previous year, double the proportion in the next-highest group. At the opposite end of the spectrum from the three highly religious groups are the Religion Resisters and the Solidly Secular.
Overwhelming majorities of these groups seldom or never attend religious services, rarely if ever pray, and reject belief in the God of the Bible — instead believing in another higher power or spiritual force, or in no higher power at all.
Most do not identify with a religious denomination, and nearly all say it is not necessary to believe in God to be a moral person and have good values. They are the most likely of any of the groups to describe themselves as political liberals and the least likely to say they are conservative.
These political leanings are reflected in their policy preferences. Large majorities of both groups believe humans are the main cause of global warming and that immigrants strengthen American society.
Overwhelming shares disapprove of the job that Donald Trump is doing as president. And relatively few in either group have a moral objection to abortion or homosexual behavior. At the same time, Religion Resisters and the Solidly Secular exhibit stark differences from one another in the extent to which they embrace spiritual and New Age beliefs. They also diverge over the role organized religious institutions and churches play in society. And they look different in some ways demographically, including their gender makeup and household income.
By a substantial margin, Solidly Seculars are the least religious and spiritual of the seven groups. About three-quarters say they are neither religious nor spiritual, more than double the next-largest proportion in any other group.
They are the least likely of any of the groups to say that spiritual practices such as meditation give meaning and fulfillment to their lives. And this broad rejection of the religious and spiritual extends to the supernatural: They are the least likely of any of the groups to say they hold New Age beliefs.
So what do Solidly Seculars believe? Politically, this group is heavily Democratic and liberal on several issues; for example, fully seven-in-ten say the country has not gone far enough to give women equal rights with men. Religion Resisters are more likely than Solidly Seculars to derive personal meaning from a number of sources.
For example, nearly two-thirds say that being outdoors in nature provides them with a great deal of meaning and fulfillment, a view shared by fewer than half of Solidly Seculars. Spending time with family, listening to music, caring for pets and reading are among the other areas where Religion Resisters find more meaning. Demographically, Solidly Seculars stand out from every other typology group in several ways. While they express some religious and spiritual beliefs, very few of the Relaxed Religious or the Spiritually Awake consider religion the most important thing in their lives.
On a number of key measures of belief and practice, these two groups more closely resemble each other than they do any of the three highly religious or two nonreligious groups.
For example, about four-in-ten Relaxed Religious and Spiritually Awake Americans pray daily, at least three times as many as those in the two nonreligious groups, but significantly fewer than the three highly religious groups.
These also are the only groups in which majorities believe that the Bible or other holy scripture is the word of God but should not be taken literally. By contrast, the highly religious groups tend to see the Bible or other scripture as the literal word of God, while the nonreligious groups largely say the Bible was written by people.
In addition, relatively few members of either the Relaxed Religious or the Spiritually Awake say they read the Bible with any regularity. Belief in New Age concepts even more sharply distinguishes the two somewhat religious groups.
From astrology to reincarnation to belief in psychics, New Age beliefs are embraced by substantial majorities of the Spiritually Awake , but rejected by most Relaxed Religious Americans. While the Spiritually Awake have more of an affinity for New Age beliefs, the Relaxed Religious are somewhat more positive in their attitudes toward organized religious institutions. The Relaxed Religious also are more likely to say churches strengthen morality in society and bring people together, and less likely to say religious institutions have too much influence in politics.
Compared with the Spiritually Awake, the Relaxed Religious are more likely to be men and Republicans.
An ancient tradition of related beliefs and practices that developed in the Indian subcontinent. Core ideals and values shared by most Hindus would include respect for elders; reverence for teachers; regard for guests and tolerance of all races and religions. What Hindus believe Revealed in its final form by the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.
The essentials of Muslim practice are summarised in the five pillars of Islam — declaration of faith; ritual prayer; welfare; a month of fasting during Ramadan ; and pilgrimage. What Muslims believe An ancient philosophy and ethical teaching that originated in India.
The main principle is ahimsa — the avoidance, where possible, of physical or mental harm to any living being. Jainism is a religion without a belief in a creator god. Based around the Jewish people's covenant relationship with God. Jews believe they are challenged and blessed by God. Love of one's neighbour is the great principle of social life and the founding inspiration of the Jewish community. What Jews believe There is one God, people should serve by leading a life of prayer and obedience.
Sikhs believe their soul then passes through various existences and will become one with God. The ritual recitation of mantras in both Buddhism and Hinduism is not the same as prayer to a personal God in the Christian tradition, and this difference may help explain why a smaller number of Asian-American Buddhists and Hindus than Asian-American Christians report that they pray daily.
And although attendance at religious services is higher among U. Asian Christians than among U. Asian Buddhists and Hindus, many of the Buddhists and Hindus report that they maintain religious shrines in their homes. On one common indicator of religious commitment, Asian-American Christians are slightly lower than U. But on some measures, Asian-American Christians are more committed than U. Christians as a whole.
Asian-American Christians are also more inclined than U. All three Asian-American Christian groups attend services more frequently than do their counterparts in the general public. On the other hand, Asian-American evangelicals are similar to white evangelical Protestants in the general public on some measures of religious commitment: Both groups are about equally likely to consider religion very important in their lives, and both groups are about equally likely to pray daily.
The same pattern holds among mainline Protestants. The two groups are similar, however, when it comes to frequency of prayer and importance of religion in their lives. Compared with white, non-Hispanic Catholics in the U. Asian-American evangelicals are just as likely as white evangelicals to say the Bible is the word of God, though Asian Americans are somewhat less inclined to say everything in Scripture should be taken literally, word for word.
On most measures of religious commitment, Korean-American evangelicals look similar to Asian-American evangelicals from other countries of origin. As noted above, Asian-American Buddhists are less inclined than Asian-American Christians to say religion is very important in their lives.
But many nevertheless maintain distinctive religious beliefs and practices. On the other hand, meditation—a practice with deep roots in some, but not all, forms of Buddhism—seems to be relatively uncommon among Asian-American Buddhists. It is possible, of course, that what Christians have in mind when they say they engage in meditation is different from what Buddhists mean by that term.
Vietnamese-American Buddhists are more likely than other Asian-American Buddhists to say religion is very important in their lives. Vietnamese-American Buddhists are also somewhat more likely than other Asian-American Buddhists to pray at least once a day, to attend worship services at least occasionally and to attend services of different religious faiths.
Asian-American Hindus also maintain some distinctive religious beliefs and practices. Yoga has a long tradition in Hinduism, and nearly three-quarters of U. In addition, Hindus tend to practice their religion in different ways than do Christians. Overall, Asian-American Hindus say they pray less often than do members of the general public. About half of U. Among U. About a quarter of U. But Asian Americans who are unaffiliated tend to report lower levels of interest in religion than unaffiliated Americans as a whole.
For example, four-in-ten unaffiliated U. By comparison, less than a quarter of unaffiliated U. Unaffiliated U. Asian Americans with no religious affiliation, like unaffiliated Americans as a whole, infrequently attend worship services and tend to believe the Bible is a human artifact rather than the word of God. But they are no more likely to believe in reincarnation, astrology or the presence of spiritual energy in physical things such as mountains, trees or crystals. Overall, the proportion of native-born U.
Because Chinese Americans are the largest subgroup of U. Asians, nearly half of all religiously unaffiliated Asians in the U.
While some Chinese Americans come from Taiwan, Hong Kong and elsewhere, they come primarily from mainland China, which has very high government restrictions on religion and where much of the population is religiously unaffiliated. One-third of Asian adults in the U. Asian groups. There have been substantial gains due to religious switching among Asian Americans who say they are not affiliated with any particular religion.
A similar pattern prevails in the U. Asian-American Catholics with a net loss of three percentage points and Hindus with a net loss of two percentage points have stayed roughly the same size, with little net impact from switching.
Asian-American Buddhists have experienced the biggest net losses from religious switching. Of all the largest Asian-American religious groups, Hindus have the highest retention rate. Religious switching is more common among native-born Asian Americans than among foreign-born Asian Americans. Among those born in the U.
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