The 37% of U.S. adults who say that religion is gaining influence in the country represents the highest percentage that the Pew Research Center has tracked since 2002, it said in its new survey of how Americans feel about the influence of religion in government and public life.
Pew surveyed more than 3,500 American adults in April and found that 61% think that religion is declining in influence in the United States, well above the 52% in 2002.
The poll also found that most Americans want houses of worship to stay away from politics and clergy to avoid (79%) endorsing candidates and that more people (59%) are familiar with the term “Christian nationalism.”
Pew found a small increase in American adults who said that Christianity should be declared the official national faith in 2026 (17%), compared to 13% in 2024. In that span, 55% of respondents said in April 2026 that they have a positive view of religion’s influence, up from 49% in September 2022.
Among respondents, 10% saw Christian nationalism in a positive way, up from 5% in September 2022, and 31% saw it as unfavorable, up from 24% in 2022.
Pew also tracked a fairly constant number of respondents who think that the Bible should influence American laws.
In 2026, 28% said that when the Bible and the will of the people conflict that the Bible should impact American laws more, essentially the same number since 2020. In 2026, 21% said the will of the people ought to win out in such an instance, the same number, within two percentage points, since 2020.
There were also political differences in the responses. Some 75% of Republicans, and those who lean right, said that religion has a positive influence in American life, compared to 38% of Democrats and those who lean left. Just 7% of Republicans and those who lean right said it has a negative impact, while 37% of Democrats and left-leaning respondents said that.
