More Americans say they have no religion

[DaKCMan AP]

More Americans say they have no religion

By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer

A wide-ranging study on American religious life found that the Roman Catholic population has been shifting out o of the Northeast to the Southwest, the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say they have no religion at all.

Fifteen percent of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990, according to the American Religious Identification Survey.

Northern New England surpassed the Pacific Northwest as the least religious region, with Vermont reporting the highest share of those claiming no religion, at 34 percent. Still, the study found that the numbers of Americans with no religion rose in every state.

"No other religious bloc has kept such a pace in every state," the study's authors said.

In the Northeast, self-identified Catholics made up 36 percent of adults last year, down from 43 percent in 1990. At the same time, however, Catholics grew to about one-third of the adult population in California and Texas, and one-quarter of Floridians, largely due to Latino immigration, according to the research.

Nationally, Catholics remain the largest religious group, with 57 million people saying they belong to the church. The tradition gained 11 million followers since 1990, but its share of the population fell by about a percentage point to 25 percent.

Christians who aren't Catholic also are a declining segment of the country.

In 2008, Christians comprised 76 percent of U.S. adults, compared to about 77 percent in 2001 and about 86 percent in 1990. Researchers said the dwindling ranks of mainline Protestants, including Methodists, Lutherans and Episcopalians, largely explains the shift. Over the last seven years, mainline Protestants dropped from just over 17 percent to 12.9 percent of the population.

The report from The Program on Public Values at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., surveyed 54,461 adults in English or Spanish from February through November of last year. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.5 percentage points. The findings are part of a series of studies on American religion by the program that will later look more closely at reasons behind the trends.

The current survey, being released Monday, found traditional organized religion playing less of a role in many lives. Thirty percent of married couples did not have a religious wedding ceremony and 27 percent of respondents said they did not want a religious funeral.

About 12 percent of Americans believe in a higher power but not the personal God at the core of monotheistic faiths. And, since 1990, a slightly greater share of respondents — 1.2 percent — said they were part of new religious movements, including Scientology, Wicca and Santeria.

The study also found signs of a growing influence of churches that either don't belong to a denomination or play down their membership in a religious group.

Respondents who called themselves "non-denominational Christian" grew from 0.1 percent in 1990 to 3.5 percent last year. Congregations that most often use the term are megachurches considered "seeker sensitive." They use rock style music and less structured prayer to attract people who don't usually attend church. Researchers also found a small increase in those who prefer being called evangelical or born-again, rather than claim membership in a denomination.

Evangelical or born-again Americans make up 34 percent of all American adults and 45 percent of all Christians and Catholics, the study found. Researchers found that 18 percent of Catholics consider themselves born-again or evangelical, and nearly 39 percent of mainline Protestants prefer those labels. Many mainline Protestant groups are riven by conflict over how they should interpret what the Bible says about gay relationships, salvation and other issues.

The percentage of Pentecostals remained mostly steady since 1990 at 3.5 percent, a surprising finding considering the dramatic spread of the tradition worldwide. Pentecostals are known for a spirited form of Christianity that includes speaking in tongues and a belief in modern-day miracles.

Mormon numbers also held steady over the period at 1.4 percent of the population, while the number of Jews who described themselves as religiously observant continued to drop, from 1.8 percent in 1990 to 1.2 percent, or 2.7 million people, last year. Researchers plan a broader survey on people who consider themselves culturally Jewish but aren't religious.

The study found that the percentage of Americans who identified themselves as Muslim grew to 0.6 percent of the population, while growth in Eastern religions such as Buddhism slightly slowed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090309/...9yZWFtZXJpY2Fu

[Demonpenz]

Prayer request threads are were I expect the best of people, the Dc is where I expect the worst of people.

[Mr. Kotter]

Originally Posted by Demonpenz

Prayer request threads are were I expect the best of people, the Dc is where I expect the worst of people.

Words of wisdom.

Wow.

[Jilly]

So here's what I think the deal is:

1. Catholics/baptists are rising because the clear cut answers/rules make for an easier faith...which fits our fast food, easy society

2. Other Christian faiths are declining because we are failing miserably at letting people know that questions, not having answers, etc, is okay and discussion is great, and you can still have faith

3. Atheism is on the rise because it's the new "in" thing...although I would say most confuse atheism with agnosticism and in which case makes people say things like "I hate organized religion, but I'm very spiritual"

4. believing in God is hard when we look around us and fail to see what is good about the world

eh, jsut my assessment and attempt to bring us back to the subject at hand, especially now that it is in the right forum.

Oh and Dan, perhaps you need to lay off the white zin....you might read words better that way!!

[keg in kc]

I'll parrot what I said on the other thread:

Technology has created an international community where many people in the world can communicate with someone in another city, another state, another part of the world instantaneously at any time, and I think that's one of the biggest threats to organized religion in history, for a variety of reasons. Religious services are no longer required to feel like you're part of something larger than yourself. A great deal of knowledge is shared freely; there's much more of an opportunity to encounter other cultures or beliefs and humanity as a whole is more educated than ever before. And I think entertainment is something now that it hasn't been in the past, television and movies and music - there's so many things to occupy a person's time. Just a few things which I think could be detrimental to organized religion.


Beyond that, I'm not sure atheism is any more 'en vogue' now that it ever has been, although I do think the idea that it's hard to see good in the world may be a part of all this. Then again, I would think that people would migrate toward religion as a result of that underlying dissatisfaction and fear, rather than away from it.

[Jenson71]

Originally Posted by Jilly

So here's what I think the deal is:

1. Catholics/baptists are rising because the clear cut answers/rules make for an easier faith...which fits our fast food, easy society

Not at all. The reason for the rise in Catholicism is the growing Hispanic population. If people actually followed the rules of the Catholic faith, they would have a relatively displined lifestyle, the opposite of a fast food, easy society.

[Ultra Peanut]

Maori Jesus owns:

[mlyonsd]

Originally Posted by Jenson71

Not at all. The reason for the rise in Catholicism is the growing Hispanic population. If people actually followed the rules of the Catholic faith, they would have a relatively displined lifestyle, the opposite of a fast food, easy society.

Absolutely correct. That's why they lost me.

[irishjayhawk]

FTR, I was never against Christmas.


I'm looking at you, Adept.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Iron Nails Ran In

[Jenson71]

Originally Posted by irishjayhawk

FTR, I was never against Christmas.


I'm looking at you, Adept.

Hey Irish! What's been going on with you?

[irishjayhawk]

Originally Posted by Jenson71

Hey Irish! What's been going on with you?

Took an absence. Wouldn't you know my grades have been best so far they've ever been? Whoda thunk it?

But I do think I need to do less of this place - aka DC.

[HolyHandgernade]

Here's what I think:

Organized religion is way behind the times, developmentally speaking. Most rest their concepts in mythic structures that simply do not resonate with most modern to post-modern societies. For a while (early 1900's) extreme rationalism came into vogue, and if you were going to have a "heyday" for philosophies like atheism/agnosticism, it would have been then.

But then WWII happened, and in times of extreme crisis, people naturally drift back to "knowns", and organized religion was one of those "knowns". But, its tough to stuff the genie back into the bottle, and the 60's experimentation with many things, including attitudes regarding religion, began to be either rejected or expanded in a completely different context. It was after this time period, and our encounters in Asia, that Eastern influences began to infiltrate the mainstream.

The problem was that these philosophies expanded upon an idea that wasn't explored much by Western theologies (which focused on the "Great Thou"). So this new focus on the "Great I" was very exciting, but took a really perverted form in the "me" decade of the 80's. This would also be the time that Evangelicals, sensing their weakening grip on the theological front, formed their new message and attraction to people who felt lost in this sea of uncertainty.

It was only with the invention of the internet and access to knowledge stores that were previously hard to find, that people started to feel comfortable moving away from mythic structures because they finally had transpersonal opportunities available to them that didn't require the "go-between" of the Church. So that, now, when people say "no religion", it doesn't necessarily mean"no spirituality", it simply means they don't feel connected to or the need for a community to explore their sense of spirituality. Spirit has become too big of a concept to be contained by one religion. Its no longer taboo to explore outside the dogma of your background religion to see "what works for you".

So, what is really happening, is that the worldspace with regards to religious/spiritual opinion, is finally evolving beyond the mythic stagnation it was in for quite some time. Its shooting right past rationalism and into pluralism and integralism. It no longer matters if your devotional is from one tradition, your meditation from another, and your expansion/identification from yet another. Just because one practices a Buddhist meditation technique doesn't mean the person considers themselves "Buddhist". So, the person says "no religion", even though their practice has its roots in a traditional religion, or two, or three.

This only holds true in modern to post-modern societies. If you go to a developing society, then traditional religion will probably hold steady or be increasing, because the structure is compatible with the worldspace they understand. You can't be successful, on a large scale, by asking people to jump a developmental sequence or two. Its like climbing a ladder with a couple of rungs missing, it seems risky and foolish to climb. So, in that sense, organized religion will always have a place.

-HH

[BWillie]

Most of the time I wish I did have faith and believed in god 100%. To be honest with you, even as narrow minded as some of those people can be, they seem to be the happiest people I've ever met.

But I'm a logical thinker, it's impossible for me to believe most of what is written in the bible. Realistically, I cannot tell you whether there is a god or not. I don't know why people cannot simply sit back and say to themselves, "I don't know". There is much in life that we do not know. I think more people should leave it at that.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Jilly

So here's what I think the deal is:

1. Catholics/baptists are rising because the clear cut answers/rules make for an easier faith...which fits our fast food, easy society
...

One of the reasons Catholics are gaining followers, besides Jenson's major reason, is because I converted two people even though I'm not a believer myself! I think that's enough to get me into heaven if there is one, don't you?

Seriously, I think religions with clear rules make for a harder faith than loosey-goosey, believe-what-makes-you-feel-good religions.

[Jilly]

Originally Posted by patteeu

One of the reasons Catholics are gaining followers, besides Jenson's major reason, is because I converted two people even though I'm not a believer myself! I think that's enough to get me into heaven if there is one, don't you?

Seriously, I think religions with clear rules make for a harder faith than loosey-goosey, believe-what-makes-you-feel-good religions.

I totally disagree with that. Clear rules give you nothing to think about, there's no ambiguity and no gray area, it leaves no room for you to truly explore faith and the essence of it without attacking some major belief - for instance, the Trinity and Catholicism. You can't ever wrestle with that major belief because the Catholic Church says it is true, therefore it is. Where's the room for questions? Questions, imo, is what makes things hard, not the rules. When there are questions, you might have to face something completely different then what the "church" believes. For instance - atonement theology, that Jesus was sent as a sacrificial lamb....what if I don't believe that and if I don't, what do I do with the cross? With the resurrection? It'd be much easier for me just to take the dogma of the church, run with it, know exactly how to live my life, then to face these questions and possibly have to question a belief that has been put in place for thousands of years.

And yes, you're right, a growing hispanic population, but I also might add that more and more hispanics are turning pentecostal and even mainline protestant. There is proof of this in my own denomination, in fact, our church is housing a new hispanic church start that is reaching people left and right because it is in a place that allows for diversity of belief and nonconformity in worship.