Americans who trust science and reason more than their churches’ teachings, but still believe in God or attend services, are also more likely to believe in magic than those who prioritize religious teachings.
This was the central finding of a study my co-authors and I published in the journal Social Forces in July 2026. We analyzed the latest wave of the Baylor Religion Survey, a nationally representative survey of 1,812 American adults that Gallup fielded in early 2025.
