{"id":26935,"date":"2025-04-03T13:26:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T17:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=26935"},"modified":"2025-04-03T13:26:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T17:26:13","slug":"around-the-world-many-people-are-leaving-their-childhood-religions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/04\/around-the-world-many-people-are-leaving-their-childhood-religions","title":{"rendered":"Around the World, Many People Are Leaving Their Childhood Religions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A recent Pew Research Center study shows that over 20 percent of adults worldwide have left the religious tradition in which they were raised.<\/p>\n

For several years, studies have reflected broad changes in religious practice and belief in the United States. This study<\/a> reveals that this trend is not limited to the United States. It examined faith connections\u2014or the lack of them\u2014in 36 countries around the world.<\/p>\n

However, the news may not be as dire as it seems at first. Christianity and Buddhism demonstrate the highest percentages of people leaving those faith traditions, but the vast majority of those involved have become “disaffiliated,” i.e., not associated with another particular belief system.<\/p>\n

People leaving a faith tradition is not “good news” for that religion; however, the fact that most of those who left have not accepted a different belief system could demonstrate that they are “searching” rather than having completely abandoned their faith.<\/p>\n

Also, while Christianity and Buddhism have the highest percentages of those leaving, 19 of the top 21 countries surveyed are those in which Christianity has long been the dominant faith tradition.<\/p>\n

In addition, 16 of those top 21 countries are located in Europe or the Americas, where political and social systems have been very tolerant of religious questioning and a general lack of religious belief.<\/p>\n

In two of the other countries\u2014Japan and Singapore\u2014half or more of those who have left their faith were raised Buddhists. In South Korea, the breakdown is slightly tilted toward Christianity: of the 31 percent who left their childhood faith, 16 percent were raised Christian, and 13 percent were raised Buddhists.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Christianity in the United States has not suffered as significant losses as in many other countries. Thirteen other countries had greater levels of disaffiliation from Christian faith than did the United States.<\/p>\n

Eight of those thirteen countries are located in Europe, where Christianity (in some form) was long the “official” religion. In several of those countries, Christianity lost ten or more people for each person who adopted the Christian faith. For example, in Italy, over 28 people left the Christian faith for each one that became Christian.<\/p>\n

As noted, the vast majority of those leaving the faith tradition of their childhood have become unaffiliated with any religious group (commonly referred to as “nones”).<\/p>\n

Only one country\u2014Hungary\u2014reversed this trend, with more people joining a religious tradition than becoming unaffiliated. In terms of the ratio of people becoming unaffiliated, the United States is near the bottom of the list, meaning fewer people become unaffiliated for each person who adopts a religious system. For example, in Italy, nearly 29 people became unaffiliated for each person who was affiliated with a religious faith; in the United States, only 5.9 people became unaffiliated for each who joined a faith tradition.<\/p>\n

As might also be expected, the age of those who have shifted away from their childhood faith skews toward younger people. In most countries, those between the ages of 18 and 34 represent the largest group of those who have disaffiliated from their faith. Australia is the only country to buck this trend, with the largest group being those over the age of 50. Another factor that relates to age is education; generally, people with higher education levels tend to be more likely to leave their childhood religious tradition.<\/p>\n

Finally, the study shows that the other major faith traditions \u2013 Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism \u2013 have much lower levels of people disaffiliating than Christianity and Buddhism.<\/p>\n

Islam and Hinduism tend to be very strong in the countries in which they predominate; a number of those countries prohibit attempts to convert people to other faiths. Judaism’s foundation in ethnic identity (descendants of Abraham) also may explain the relatively lower level of people disaffiliating from that faith.<\/p>\n

Despite the sobering statistics, this global shift in religious identity may present an opportunity rather than a setback for Christianity. The fact that most who leave their childhood faith aren’t turning to other belief systems suggests a deep spiritual hunger that remains unmet. For Christians, this opens the door to re-engaging, reimagining, and reintroducing the Gospel in fresh and authentic ways.<\/p>\n

As Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he grows older, he will not abandon it.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent Pew Research Center study shows that over 20 percent of adults worldwide have left the religious tradition in which they were raised. For several years, studies have reflected broad changes in religious practice and belief in the United States. This study reveals that this trend is not limited to the United States. It…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":26938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAround the World, Many People Are Leaving Their Childhood Religions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A global study shows many leaving childhood faiths\u2014especially Christianity\u2014but most aren\u2019t turning elsewhere.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/04\/around-the-world-many-people-are-leaving-their-childhood-religions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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