White Christians are no longer a
majority of the American population
Joel Connelly November 24,
2015 seattlepi.com
The percentage of Americans who identify as white
Christians has fallen to 46 percent of the country’s population,
the first time ever it has been below 50 percent, according to an
exhaustive survey conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Religious
Landscape project.
White Christians made up 55 percent of America’s
population in 2007 and nearly 70 percent as recently as
1984.
The decline has been accompanied by the rise of the
“nones.” The percentage of Americans who declare no religious
affiliation rose from 16 percent to 23 percent between 2007 and
2014. The percentage of Americans identifying with
non-Christian faiths — Judaism, Islam and Buddhism — rose from 4.7
percent to 5.9 percent.
The change has been reflected even in the U.S.
Congress, which has a Muslim member from Minnesota and three
Buddhist members, one from Georgia and the other two from
Hawaii.
While white Christians have declined as a percentage
of America’s population, they have increased as a presence in the
Republican Party. Sixty-nine percent of white Christians now
identify as Republicans. The percentage is nearly the reverse among
non-white Christians, with Democrats enjoying a three-to–one
advantage.
The importance of white Christians is reflected in
competition between 2016 presidential candidates. Ben Carson
and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have appealed to evangelicals, who make
up a majority of attendees at Iowa’s Republican caucuses.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, has also identified with evangelicals,
particularly in opposing abortion even in cases of rape and
incest. (Rubio was raised a Catholic, spent time as a Mormon
and is back as a Catholic.)
The last two winners of the Iowa caucuses — ex-Sen.
Rick Santorum and ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — tailored their
appeal to evangelicals. Both are running again in 2016 but
have garnered little support.
When polling on the issue began in 1944, 80 percent
of Americans were white Christians. The figure held firm during the
country’s post-World War II boom and was just under 80 percent in
1964.
Pew interviewed a total of 35,071 people between
June and the end of September in 2014.