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Former Christians Turn More Liberal Than Unaffiliated, Study Finds

4/26/2026

Summary

Story summary

Researchers Ayse Busra Topal (UC Riverside) and Spencer Kiesel (UC Cincinnati) found former Christians are more liberal than nonreligious adults.
The 2020 Post-Election Survey (April-October 2021) of 3,500 adults showed 41 percent were raised Christian and 45 percent unaffiliated.
Ex-Christian respondents, who favored abortion access, criminal-justice reform, and same-sex-marriage, grew liberal when threatened by conservatives, unlike nonbelievers.
Demographers project unaffiliated Americans will become the United States’ largest demographic group within two decades.

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Story summary

Researchers Ayse Busra Topal (UC Riverside) and Spencer Kiesel (UC Cincinnati) found former Christians are more liberal than nonreligious adults.
The 2020 Post-Election Survey (April-October 2021) of 3,500 adults showed 41 percent were raised Christian and 45 percent unaffiliated.
Ex-Christian respondents, who favored abortion access, criminal-justice reform, and same-sex-marriage, grew liberal when threatened by conservatives, unlike nonbelievers.
Demographers project unaffiliated Americans will become the United States’ largest demographic group within two decades.