Near quarter of U.S. adults ‘spiritual but not religious,’ Pew finds

Nearly a quarter of American adults consider themselves “spiritual but not religious,” and a plurality of those say organized religion is divisive and spreads intolerance, Pew Research said in its latest release. The 22 percent of Americans describing themselves as spiritual but not religious track with recent U.S. declines in traditional religious beliefs and practices, a decline in Christianity in the U.S., and speculations that younger Americans are replacing organized religion with a hodgepodge of beliefs and practices.

Still, 70 percent of American adults consider themselves spiritual in some way. A smaller majority, 53 percent, say they are religious. Nearly half, 48 percent, say they are both; while about a fifth, 21 percent, say they are neither. Pew culled its findings from 11,201 U.S. adults included in its American Trends Panel, an online survey panel considered representative of the U.S. population.