Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has just published an important report of their U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. Its findings reveal tremendous religious restlessness among Americans who change religious affiliation frequently. It also demonstrated the growth of an unaffiliated population (atheist, agnostic, secular unaffiliated, and religious unaffiliated), particularly among people under 40 years of age. It also reveals that Protestantism has diminished to 51% of the population share (though evangelicals continue to gain an increasing share of the Protestant population). Catholicism also has not grown, due to the decline of its white population. However, immigration from Mexico, South America, and Asia have drastically reshaped its ethnic composition. Immigration has also impacted evangelicals more than mainline Protestant churches.
What about Asian Americans? The survey confirmed the anecdotal evidence that Asian Americans have a higher affiliation with Christianity than other religions. 45% of the Asians surveyed identified themselves as Christians (17% evangelicals, 17% Catholics, and 9% mainline Protestant). 14% identify as Hindu, 9% Buddhists, 4% Muslim, 3% other world religions or faiths. Among Buddhists, whites out number Asians 53% to 32%. 23% of the Asians surveyed were unaffiliated, the highest percentage of all racial groups.
Among East Asian immigrants, 57% are Christians (27% Catholic, 18% evangelical, 11% mainline Protestant), 14% Buddhist, and 27% unaffiliated. 55% of immigrants from South-Central Asia are Hindu, 16% Christian (9% evangelical, 3% Catholic, 2% mainline Protestant), 12% Muslim, and 11% unaffiliated.
The implications of the survey findings about Asian American religions are clear. Research about Asian American Hindus and Muslims is needed; but so is research in Asian American Christianity. — Tim Tseng
Links to:
- Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life [full downloadable report]
- Los Angeles Times Coverage (Connie Kang)
- New York Times (Neela Banerjee)
- Washington Post (Jacqueline L. Salmon and Michelle Boorstein)
SANACS 
I was actually surprised that the percentage of Christians was as high as it was and that the percentage of “unaffiliated” was as low as it was (albeit higher than other racial groups).
Hi Brian,
Yep, both of these facts are well kept secrets. You can check out Fenggang Yang’s lecture, “What do Asian Americans really believe?” for more details. It is posted on Jan. 25th, 2008 on the SANAC’s blog. A closer look will show that Filipinos and Koreans are responsible for the high affiliation with Christianity. Among Chinese Americans, Christian affiliation is smaller – but not as small as one might think.
Thanks for commenting! Hope to see you at our Chinese consultation on April 26th, 2008!
– Tim