Americans who go to church and trust science are more likely to believe in ghosts and cursesAmericans Who Go to Church and Trust Science Are Also More Likely to Believe in Ghosts and Curses

A survey of 1,812 American adults found that people who believe in both God and science are more likely to believe in magic than those who trust religious teachings alone.

The two sound like opposites, but they fit comfortably inside one body. A new study analysed the latest wave of the Baylor Religion Survey, a nationally representative snapshot of 1,812 American adults fielded by Gallup in early 2025, and found something odd: Americans who believe science is the only way to understand the world and that morality should rest on reason rather than religious teaching are more likely to believe in magic than those who prioritise religious teachings — as long as they keep some tie to religion.

Magic does not need a church

Respondents were asked how strongly they believed in six supernatural things that require no god and no church, including ghosts, curses and talking to the dead. Among Americans who believe in God, those who also embraced these 'secular rationalist' ideas were about twice as likely to lean toward magic: 40% versus 19%.

Among people who attend religious services, the split was 28% versus 19%. But among those who never attend services or do not believe in God, trusting science had no link to belief in magic.

A sociologist put it neatly long ago: the magician has a clientele, not a church. Magic needs no congregation, clergy or theology, so believers can adopt it without leaving their church behind.

Most unaffiliated Americans have not left the supernatural

Roughly three in ten American adults now claim no religious affiliation, yet only 5% call themselves atheists. Most say their religion is 'nothing in particular', and two-thirds of that group still believe in something beyond the natural world.

The data comes from a single point in time, so it cannot say whether these people are drifting away from religion, coming back to it or staying put. That would take following the same people over time.