[ti:Share of Americans with No Religious Affiliation Growing] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:06.58]Pew researchers said last week that 65 percent of American adults describe themselves as Christian. [00:17.03]That is down from 77 percent in 2009. [00:26.07]Pew also reported that both Protestant and Roman Catholic churches are losing members. [00:36.64]Twenty-six percent of Americans now describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular." [00:50.11]That is up from 17 percent in 2009. [00:55.54]Atheists are people who do not believe in God. [01:01.11]Agnostics are not sure whether or not a God exists. [01:08.73]The increase in so-called religious "nones" is happening across all groups of people. [01:18.99]Education level also does not seem to matter. [01:24.33]"Nones" are growing among college graduates, as well as those with lower levels of education. [01:34.18]The report comes at a difficult time for many major religious groups in the U.S. [01:42.68]The two largest — the Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention [01:48.85]—are dealing with widespread clergy sex-abuse cases. [01:55.31]And, the United Methodist Church, the largest Protestant group, [02:01.42]faces a possible split over differences on whether to include LGBTQ people. [02:22.96]Fewer people are attending religious services in the U.S. [02:30.40]The report found that over the last 10 years, the number of Americans [02:36.85]who say they attend religious services at least once or twice a month dropped by 7 percent. [02:47.97]Those who say they attend religious services less often — if at all — increased by the same amount. [02:58.47]Pew said the drop is not because Christians are attending church less often. [03:07.20]They say it is because now there are fewer Christians in the population. [03:14.19]If you go to church in America, chances are you are older. [03:20.99]Pew's data found a wide age difference. [03:25.26]Three-quarters of people over the age of 55 described themselves as Christian, [03:34.02]compared to just under half of so-called millennials—people who finished high school after 2000. [03:44.91]Meanwhile, the share of U.S. adults who identify with non-Christian faiths [03:52.55]rose from five percent in 2009, to seven percent today. [04:01.32]This includes two percent of Americans who are Jewish. [04:12.52]One percent say they are Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu. [04:19.41]Three percent identify with other faiths, including people who describe themselves as "spiritual." [04:30.65]I'm Anne Ball. [04:34.01]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM