Truth, Love, and Music

[andrew]

More Americans say they have no religion
By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer
Mon Mar 9, 12:14 am ET

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.
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"The question is not, 'How far?' The question is,
'Do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed?'"

[Quietsoul]

Dare I say that this is no big surprise to me? . . .
_________________
"Whisper my name and I will hear you...dream of me and I will find you..."

[andrew]

No doubt. Seems consistent with personal observations.

In a way, I say good riddance. Seems a lot of people have just been going through the motions, and the sooner they drop the pretense the better.

Real spirituality or nothing!
_________________
"The question is not, 'How far?' The question is,
'Do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed?'"

[bigmonstefan]

I meet a lot of people who say that they are Christians, but tend to act otherwise. I kind of like the fact that they are finally coming out of their theological closets admitting who they truly are. It gives previous unbelievers less of an argument with that whole hypocrisy crap. A little more black and white in matters off morality ain't a bad thing.
_________________
You can hear me in the harmony
YOU'VE READ IT, YOU CAN'T UNREAD IT!

[bigmonstefan]

and then I read andrew's post which is basically the same thing. Sorry to be redundant. I've been up all night restoring my PS3 while watching Dexter. Good times.
_________________
You can hear me in the harmony
YOU'VE READ IT, YOU CAN'T UNREAD IT!

[andrew]

Nice to know we're on the same page! And you developed the "this will give unbelievers less to gainsay" part. Good point.
_________________
"The question is not, 'How far?' The question is,
'Do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed?'"

[juanito]

Check THIS out for a pretty compelling analysis of Christianity in the USA.

It's a 3-part analysis entitled "The Coming Evangelical Collapse"
_________________
"I'm just jazzed about being on the show, man."
- Guy

[andrew]

Man, I printed that out for further study, but a cursory skim says its REALLY interesting. I'll get back after I read it.
_________________
"The question is not, 'How far?' The question is,
'Do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed?'"

[Fritz]

Lest we chortle prematurely, please recall that few have the wit to go it alone.

Despite its shortcomings, organized religion has, if nothing else, kept the hoi ploi on the straight and narrow (for the most part). In other words, churches have made law and order not only possible but likely.

With the decrease in Sunday church going has come an increase in crime and all manner of social decay.

Chickens? Eggs? Who knows. All's I know is, I'd rather see all the lil' morons in church on Sunday and Wednesday rather than on the streets that are no longer safe for small-c Christians.

[andrew]

Good point. May be time to organize a new religion, though....
_________________
"The question is not, 'How far?' The question is,
'Do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed?'"

[Fritz]

[andrew]

I like "little 'c' Christian", or some other way to distinguish my admiration for the person and work of Jesus from my general dislike of ChurchCorp (in all of its different brands... er, denominations).

I had in mind a "21st century" approach to religion that would respect what we have learned over the past couple of centuries, as well as the sacred texts that have been handed down to us.
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"The question is not, 'How far?' The question is,
'Do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed?'"

[Fritz]

If we aren't gonna start up the Intergalactic Church of the Holy Cosmos, then might I suggest that rather than a new iteration of an old saw, simply return to the original roots of the Faith ... small bands of small-c Christian rebels ... not so much into text and dogma as they were into the prime directive: Love one another. It was text and dogma that skrewed everything up (technical term), IMO.

As for sacred texts, someone should edit the quotations of Christ into a single document, just what the man said, period, and stick to that. His words alone are sacred text. Everything else, all the commentary that followed Him, is people text, mundane text ... full of sound and fury though it may be.

His message was fairly simple. It's the sacred writers who expounded on what he said that muddled everything up after about 33AD. Nothing turns me off quicker than quotations that start with somebody's name and chapter or verse number ... and frankly, I believe the reason most "true believers" get so enamored of all those saintly quotations is that they have a hard time getting on with the bidniss of true love. Rather than thinking for themselves they become a walking litany of didactic math and pious numbers.

It matters little what chapter, verse or thesis says. What matters most is the prime directive, for if one truly does that one simple thing, yet so difficult thing, then all else falls in place.

Personally, I don't give a fig what Jimmy Swaggert, Billy Graham or Saint Seauxenseaux said about diddly ... 's all just their opinion ... Love one another ... do that and the rest followeth.

(Gimme an Amen, y'all.)

[andrew]

Amen!!

Seriously. Well said. And with all due respect to the Book, I have to admit a partiality for the gospels and a benign neglect for everything else (having spent too many years arguing over things that don't matter...).
_________________
"The question is not, 'How far?' The question is,
'Do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed?'"