Reader for the first time, a majority of Americans — 56 percent — say it is possible to be a good person without a religious belief. So says new Pew Research Center data drawn from two polls conducted among about 5,000 American adults in June and July. “God is not a prerequisite for good values and morality,” Greg Smith, Pew’s associate director of research, said in a post about the findings. ” … [T]he public’s increased rejection of the idea that belief in God is necessary for morality is due, in large part, to the spike in the share of Americans who are religious ‘nones.
http://religionnews.com/2017/10/17/good-without-god-more-americans-say-amen-to-that/
In the current poll, Protestants and Catholics were also polled, and 45 percent of them agree that God is not necessary for personal morality, up from 42 percent in 2011. Even white evangelicals, who traditionally believe a relationship with God is crucial to morality, have budged. In 2011, one quarter of them (26 percent) said it was possible to be good without God, while now almost a third (32 percent) say so.
