<P> Religion in the United States is characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices . Various religious faiths have flourished within the United States . A majority of Americans report that religion plays a very important role in their lives, a proportion unique among developed countries . </P> <P> Historically, the United States has always been marked by religious pluralism and diversity, beginning with various native beliefs of the pre-colonial time . In colonial times, Anglicans, Catholics and mainline Protestants, as well as Jews, arrived from Europe . Eastern Orthodoxy has been present since the Russian colonization of Alaska . Various dissenting Protestants, who left the Church of England, greatly diversified the religious landscape . The Great Awakenings gave birth to multiple evangelical Protestant denominations; membership in Methodist and Baptist churches increased drastically in the Second Great Awakening . In the 18th century, deism found support among American upper classes and thinkers . The Episcopal Church, splitting from the Church of England, came into being in the American Revolution . New Protestant branches like Adventism emerged; Restorationists and other Christians like the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Latter Day Saint movement, Churches of Christ and Church of Christ, Scientist, as well as Unitarian and Universalist communities all spread in the 19th century . Pentecostalism emerged in the early 20th century as a result of the Azusa Street Revival . Scientology emerged in the 1950s . Unitarian Universalism resulted from the merge of Unitarian and Universalist churches in the 20th century . Since the 1990s, the religious share of Christians has decreased due to secularization, while Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and other religions have spread . Protestantism, historically dominant, ceased to be the religious category of the majority in the early 2010s . </P> <P> The majority of U.S. adults self - identify as Christians, while around 20 - 25% claim no religious affiliation . According to a 2017 study by the Public Religion Research Institute, approximately 69% of the Americans identified themselves as Christians, with 45% professing attendance at a variety of churches that could be considered Protestant, and 20% professing Catholic beliefs . The same study says that other non-Christian religions (including Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam) collectively make up about 7% of the population . According to a 2016 Gallup poll, Mississippi (with 63% of its adult population described as very religious, saying that religion is important to them and attending religious services almost every week) is the most religious state in the country, while New Hampshire (with only 20% of its adult population described as very religious) is the least religious state . The same company found in 2016 that 73.7% of Americans is Christian, comprising a 48.9% of Protestants, a 23.0% of Catholics and 1.8% of Mormons; the 18.2% had no religion and the 5.4% was affiliated with another religion . </P> <P> From early colonial days, when some English and German settlers moved in search of religious freedom, America has been profoundly influenced by religion . That influence continues in American culture, social life, and politics . Several of the original Thirteen Colonies were established by settlers who wished to practice their own religion within a community of like - minded people: the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established by English Puritans (Congregationalists), Pennsylvania by British Quakers, Maryland by English Catholics, and Virginia by English Anglicans . Despite these, and as a result of intervening religious strife and preference in England the Plantation Act 1740 would set official policy for new immigrants coming to British America until the American Revolution . </P>

What percent of the u.s. population is estimated to hold membership in a religious organization
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