Pew says Christians expected to cease being majority in U.S. in less than 50 years

Christians in the U.S. may become part of the minority in as little as 50 years if current trends continue, according to projections from one of the country's premier polling outlets. 

Pew Research Center said this week that "if Christians keep leaving religion at the same rate observed in recent years," the total number of Americans who profess Christianity could drop to well below 50 percent before the century is three-quarters gone. 

"Depending on whether religious switching continues at recent rates, speeds up or stops entirely, the projections show Christians of all ages shrinking from 64% to between a little more than half (54%) and just above one-third (35%) of all Americans by 2070," the Center said. 

The Center noted that "religiously unaffiliated" Americans could likewise "rise from the current 30% to somewhere between 34% and 52% of the U.S. population" over the same time period. 

"The decline of Christianity and the rise of the 'nones' may have complex causes and far-reaching consequences for politics, family life and civil society," the Center said, while declining to speculate on the reasons for those trends.