Religions in the United States

An important aspect of both Christianity and Judaism is their acceptance of the separation of church and state. The Judeo-Christian heritage that dominates American culture is in harmony with the democratic form of government structured by the United States Constitution, which prohibits religion from directly controlling the political institution while simultaneously protecting the rights of citizens to practice their religions without interference from either the government or other citizens who may not approve.

While there have been exceptions to this generalization, most notably the oppression of several Native American religions, the United States for the most part has been fertile ground for religious diversity, participation in religious organizations, and religious change.

Organization

A full 90 percent of Americans report a preference for a particular religious organization when asked if they have such a preference. While all world religions are represented in the United States, the vast majority of American religious affiliation is with Christian and Jewish organizations. Of the 90 percent with a preference, 57 percent report a preference for Protestant Christian religious organizations; 27 percent report a Roman Catholic preference; and 2 percent report a Jewish preference.

American Protestants are dominated by a few major denominations, including Baptists (20 percent), Methodists (9 percent), Lutherans (7 percent), Presbyterians (5 percent), Episcopalians (3 percent), and the United Church of Christ (2 percent); the remainder consists of a wide variety of Protestant denominations and sects. During the last 20 years, these percentages have been relatively stable. Jewish identification is somewhat more complicated since Jews are both an ethnic and a religious group; those who identify a preference for Judaism in response to a poll question may exhibit few religious behaviors otherwise. Of those Jews who do identify with religious organization, approximately 14 percent identify with Orthodox Judaism, 49 percent with Conservative Judaism, and 34 percent with Reform Judaism.

Geographical Concentrations

The Catholic Church, for example, dominates in the northeast and north central United States, where so many southeastern Europeans immigrants settled. It is also strong in southern Florida (home to Cuban refugees) and in the southwestern United States, with its large Hispanic population. The Baptists dominate the southern states up to the Ohio River and west through Missouri, Texas, and Oklahoma.

Lutherans dominate the Dakotas, Minnesota, and some areas of Montana and Iowa, where so many German and Scandinavian groups settled. Methodists, while found in large numbers in many locations, show particular dominate id Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. Finally, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints dominate Utah and southern Idaho, the result of Mormons’ nineteenth-century search for a land free from persecution.