One racial group in US is more religious than others, poll finds. Which is it?

Miami Herald

15-05-2025

In the United States, where religion is 'very' or 'somewhat' important according to nearly two-thirds of adults, one racial group stands out when it comes to practicing their faith, a new poll found.
The Public Religion Research Institute American Values Atlas poll based religious activity on three categories: how often people pray, how often they read the Bible or another sacred text, and how often they attend religious services.
The poll surveyed 22,260 U.S. adults between March 13 and Dec. 2, 2024, and has a margin of error of 0.84 percentage points.
Black Americans ranked more devout in each category than white Americans and Hispanic Americans, according to the poll. The group also had higher rankings in each category than Americans overall, the poll found.
This may help explain why, according to survey results, Black Americans are also more likely to hold Christian nationalist beliefs, researchers said, adding that these views are more heavily present among those who attend religious services often.
'Such a finding is initially counterintuitive, given that the most outspoken Christian nationalist leaders are far less likely to be racially diverse and that Black Americans identify as Democratic, and vote for Democratic candidates, at much higher levels than other Americans,' researchers said.
Black Americans also ranked higher when it came to holding charismatic beliefs and worship practices, like 'speaking in tongues, believing in divine healing, or having experienced the 'Spirit' empowering them or someone else to do a specific task,' the poll found. These theological beliefs are correlated to Christian nationalist views among Americans, researchers said.
According to the poll, 62% of Black Americans said they personally pray one or more times a week — the only racial group to have a majority that said this. They ranked 14 percentage points higher than Americans overall for praying, per the poll.
Forty-seven percent of white Americans and 48% of Hispanic Americans said they pray weekly or more, the poll found.
Thirty-nine percent of Black Americans said they read the Bible or another sacred text weekly or more, about 15 percentage points higher than how white and Hispanic Americans responded, which was 23% and 24%, respectively, per the poll.
When it came to how often each group attended religious services, Black Americans again ranked higher, with 32% who said they attended weekly or more, according to the poll.
Twenty-four percent of white Americans and 22% of Hispanic Americans said they went to religious services once a week or more, per the poll.
According to researchers, Christian nationalist beliefs hold different historical meanings among Black Americans.
'The call for a more inclusive democracy that fought for racial and economic justice was rooted in Black theology and demanded a more active role for government to assert those goals,' researchers said.