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Full Chapter Outline:
Separation of Church and State
The Christian Majority
The Protestants
---The Baptists
---The Methodists
---The Lutherans
---The Presbyterians
---The Episcopalians
---The Congregationalists
---The Disciples of Christ
---Seventh-Day Adventists
---Quakers
---Mennonites and Amish

Other Christian Groups
---The Mormons
---Christian Science
---Unitarian Universalists
---Jehova's Witnesses

Roman Catholics
---Differs from Protestantism
---Set Dogma
---Catholic Parochial Schools
---Discrimination Against Catholics

Eastern Christians

Born Again Christians

The Black Church

The Jews

Hinduism

Islam
Islamophobia

Buddhism

New Age Beliefs

Atheism

Secular Humanism

Religious Cults

Personal Growth

Nearly every religion in the world has adherents or organized institutions in the United States. American religious institutions are large, powerful and influential in social and political life. Even Americans who are members of no established religion are likely to believe in God. According to a Gallup opinion survey, nearly all Americans, 98% of them, believe in a higher power, compared to 84% in Switzerland, 73% in France and 60% in Sweden.

Americans also tend to believe in life after death: 73% compared to 50% in Switzerland and only 38% in Great Britain. About 60% of Americans are members of a church, synagogue or other religious group, though many more identify with various religions because of their birth or upbringing. About 40% of Americans attend religious services regularly, compared to only 20% in Great Britain.

The sections that follow detail many of the major religious groups, traditions, and trends in the United States, and include sections on alternatives to organized religion.

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