Forty-four percent of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in \u201cthe church or organized religion\u201d today, just below the low points Gallup has found in recent years, including 45% in 2002 and 46% in 2007. This follows a long-term decline in Americans\u2019 confidence in religion since the 1970s.<\/p>\n
In 1973, \u201cthe church or organized religion\u201d was the most highly rated institution in Gallup\u2019s confidence in institutions measure, and it continued to rank first in most years through 1985, outranking the military and the U.S. Supreme Court, among others. That began to change in the mid- to late 1980s as confidence in organized religion first fell below 60%, possibly resulting from scandals during that time involving famed televangelist preachers Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart. Confidence in religion returned to 60% in 2001, only to be rocked the following year by charges of child molestation by Catholic priests and cover-up by some in the church.<\/p>\n