A new national survey from the Pew Research Center finds Americans remain deeply divided over religion’s place in politics and government, even as a growing share say religion is gaining influence in public life.
The report, released Thursday, found 37% of U.S. adults now believe religion is gaining influence in American society — the highest level recorded by Pew since 2002 and a sharp increase from recent years. Still, most Americans continue to oppose direct political involvement by churches and religious institutions.
According to the survey, 61% of Americans still believe religion is losing influence overall, but more than half expressed a generally positive view of religion’s role in society. Pew researchers found many Americans see declining religious influence as a negative trend.
At the same time, broad majorities said churches should avoid endorsing political candidates or becoming directly involved in day-to-day political debates. The study found 79% of Americans oppose churches backing candidates during elections, while roughly two-thirds said houses of worship should stay out of political matters rather than regularly weigh in on social or political issues.
The survey also showed growing public awareness of the term “Christian nationalism.” Nearly six in 10 Americans now say they have heard at least something about the concept, up significantly from 2024. Still, views remain more negative than positive overall. About 31% of Americans said they view Christian nationalism unfavorably, while 10% expressed favorable views.
Pew also found a modest increase in support for officially declaring Christianity the nation’s religion. Seventeen percent of Americans now support that idea, compared with 13% in 2024. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, support rose to 27%.
Despite that increase, most Americans still rejected the idea of an official national religion. Instead, respondents were more likely to say government should either promote Christian moral values without formally establishing Christianity or avoid promoting religion altogether.
The report highlighted sharp partisan divides throughout the findings.
Republicans were far more likely than Democrats to say religion has a positive influence on society and to support Christianity having a stronger role in government and lawmaking. Democrats, meanwhile, were substantially more likely to support maintaining separation between church and state.
Even so, Pew researchers noted there was still significant bipartisan agreement on some questions. Large majorities of both Republicans and Democrats agreed churches should not endorse political candidates. Majorities in both parties also rejected the idea that God favors the United States over all other countries.
The survey was conducted April 6-12 among 3,592 U.S. adults through Pew’s American Trends Panel and carried a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.
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