( CNN ) -- America is a less Christian nation than it was 20 years ago , and Christianity is not losing out to other religions , but primarily to a rejection of religion altogether , a survey published Monday found . Survey finds percentage of of Americans identifying themselves as Christian has fallen over two decades . Seventy-five percent of Americans call themselves Christian , according to the American Religious Identification Survey from Trinity College in Hartford , Connecticut . In 1990 , the figure was 86 percent . William Donohue , president of the Catholic League said he thinks a radical shift towards individualism over the last quarter-century has a lot to do it . `` The three most dreaded words are thou shalt not , '' he told Lou Dobbs . `` Notice they are not atheists -- they are saying I do n't want to be told what to do with my life . '' At the same time there has been an increase in the number of people expressing no religious affiliation . The survey also found that `` born-again '' or `` evangelical '' Christianity is on the rise , while the percentage who belong to `` mainline '' congregations such as the Episcopal or Lutheran churches has fallen . One in three Americans consider themselves evangelical , and the number of people associated with mega-churches has skyrocketed from less than 200,000 in 1990 to more than 8 million in the latest survey . Watch CNN report on new study » . The rise in evangelical Christianity is contributing to the rejection of religion altogether by some Americans , said Mark Silk of Trinity College . `` In the 1990s , it really sunk in on the American public generally that there was a long-lasting 'religious right ' connected to a political party , and that turned a lot of people the other way , '' he said of the link between the Republican Party and groups such as the Moral Majority and Focus on the Family . Watch author on mixing religion and politics » . `` In an earlier time , people who would have been content to say , 'Well , I 'm some kind of a Protestant , ' now say 'Hell no , I wo n't go , ' '' he told CNN . Silk also said the revelation that some Catholic priests had sexually abused children -- and senior figures in the church hierarchy had helped to hide it -- drove some Catholics away from religion . And , he said , it is now more socially acceptable than it once was to admit having no religion . `` You 're not declaring yourself a total pariah . The culture has changed in a way that makes it easier to say , 'No , I do n't have a religion . Even in the past year , Mitt Romney and Barack Obama feel obliged to talk about 'those of no faith , ' `` he pointed out . Obama mentioned people without faith in his inaugural address in January , making him the first president to do so . In the survey , one in five Americans said they have no religious identity or did not answer the question , and more than one in four said they do not expect to have a religious funeral . The rise in what the survey authors call `` nones '' is the only trend reflected in every single state in the study , Silk said . `` We do n't see anything else in the survey that is nationwide , '' he told CNN . Still , Tony Perkins , the president of the Family Research Council , remained hopeful that people will return to their faith , noting there was a less dramatic decline in those affiliating themselves with a religion this decade than in the 1990s . Perkins told Lou Dobbs he sees that decline easing , and he thinks soon religion will be an even greater part of people 's lives . `` If this poll is taken next year will the outcome be different ? '' he asked . `` As the economy goes downward , I think people are going to be driven to religion . '' Other findings include : . • The percentage of Catholics in the United States has remained steady at about one in four since 1990 , while the percentage of other Christians has plummeted from 60 percent to 50 percent . • The percentage of Muslims has doubled since 1990 , but remains statistically very small , only 0.3 percent in the original survey and 0.6 percent today . • Mormons have remained steady as a percentage of the population , even as the number of people in the United States has grown . They make up 1.4 percent of the population . • The number of Jews in the United States is falling if the category includes only those who define themselves as Jews religiously , but has remained the same if the category includes people who consider themselves ethnically Jewish . The survey polled 54,461 Americans between February and November of last year . Pollsters conducted the research in both English and Spanish . The survey is the third in a series , following polls in 1990 and 2001 .
New survey finds Americans less likely to identify themselves as Christian . 75 percent call themselves Christian , down from 86 percent in 1990 . Score: 6 Percentage of Muslims has doubled , but still small : from 0.3 to 0.6 percent .