A new study finding that many people have drifted from their childhood church roots is a "big indictment" of organized religion, researcher Michael Lindsay told The Washington Post. "There is a huge, wide-open back door at most churches," he told the newspaper. "Churches around the country may be able to attract people, but they can't keep them."

Lindsay was commenting on a new "Faith in Flux" Pew Forum report that revealed that 16% of the adult population of America is now religiously "unaffiliated," with the vast majority of this group-79%-reporting that they were raised in a religion as children.

The majority of both former Catholics (64%) and former Protestants (58%) who have become unaffiliated said they had done so as adults. Among those who became unaffiliated as minors, most said it was mainly their own decision to do so rather than their parents' choice.

Among the currently unaffiliated, large majorities of both former Catholics and former Protestants report attending worship services at least once a week as children (74% and 64%, respectively). However, regular church attendance drops dramatically by adolescence for both groups, and very few unaffiliated people report regularly attending worship services now, as adults.

Only 30% of former Catholics and 18% of former Protestants who are now unaffiliated report that they had very strong faith as a child. All three unaffiliated groups (former Catholics, former Protestants and those who were raised unaffiliated) continue to express low levels of religious faith as adults.

To read more, go to: http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=409