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The finding was "completely consistent with similar secularizing trends in other Western, democratic societies," the authors concluded. "The magnitude and role of this large secular segment of the American population is frequently ignored by scholars and politicians alike."

Asked about what appeared to be a growing segment of Americans interested in spirituality but not organized religion, Mayer acknowledged that the survey did not account for such a group directly.

"The spiritual question throws a curve ball into this," he said, adding that he hoped future surveys would incorporate a category for non-religious spirituality.

Mayer said the challenges of a religious survey were considerable, given the dynamic character of U.S. religious and spiritual practice. "The possibilities of how people think of themselves and identify themselves are endless," he said. "People are pulled by longing, memory, family, even guilt."

Copyright © 2002 ENI.

The complete CUNY American Religious Identification Survey for 2001 report can be found at http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/aris_index.htm.

Christianity Today's Weblog and The Dallas Morning News have previously reported on the study findings.

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January (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46