Majority of Americans believe in God, new poll finds

Chiqui Guyjoco Tuesday, July 05, 2016

The percentage of Americans who believe in God continues to decline over the years yet majority or 89 percent still claim to be believers, according to a new Gallup poll survey.

Gallup released the results Wednesday, June 29 of its recent survey to uncover the newest trend of Americans' belief in God. The poll showed that nine in 10 Americans still claim to believe in God, while a rephrased question with more than a "yes or no" option indicated that eight in 10 say they believe, one in 10 answer negatively, and the other one in 10 remain unsure.

Bishop Blase Cupich, Pope Francis' first major appointment in the hierarchy of the U.S. Catholic Church, addresses the crowd from the pulpit at Holy Name Cathedral as part of a ritual a day ahead of his installation as the new archbishop in Chicago November 17, 2014. | REUTERS/Jeff Haynes

The general results also confirmed the decreasing trend of Americans who believe in God.

"All of Gallup's questions about belief in God show declines from previous decades," the poll said.

It continued, "This follows the general trend in drops in other religious indicators over the decades. Most notable among these is that close to 20% of Americans now say they do not identify with a specific religious group or denomination, compared with smaller percentages who had no religious identity in decades past."

In December 2015, Gallup poll revealed that although the percentage of Americans who identified as Christians was still high with 75 percent, it also showed a diminishing rate from 80 percent eight years ago, while the number of Americans who claimed to have no religion rose five notches higher from 2008.

The latest survey resulted from phone interviews conducted May 4-8 and June 14-23 among 1,025 random adults across the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

Gallup poll hesitated to take the results at face value as it considered the possibility that it may not be Americans' beliefs that have changed in time but rather their openness to share their "nonreligious sentiments to an interviewer."

It did, however, rest on the fact that it's still safe to assume what the majority turnout meant.

"The substantial majority of Americans continue to give a positive response when asked about their belief in God," the report concluded.