Religion in America

[dorndawg]

Pew Research dropped their new Religious Landscape Study this morning, it has quite a bit of interesting findings:

After many years of steady decline, the share of Americans who identify as Christians shows signs of leveling off – at least temporarily – at slightly above six-in-ten, according to a massive new Pew Research Center survey of 36,908 U.S. adults.

• 62% of U.S. adults describe themselves as Christians: 40% are Protestant, 19% are Catholic, and 3% are other Christians.
• 29% are religiously unaffiliated: 5% are atheist, 6% are agnostic, and 19% identify religiously as “nothing in particular.”
• 7% belong to religions other than Christianity: 2% are Jewish, and 1% each are Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu (all figures are rounded).
• 35% of U.S. adults have switched religions since childhood, leading to net gains for the unaffiliated population and net losses for the Christian population.
• All three major strands of Protestantism have declined in percentage terms since 2007.
  
  • Evangelical Protestants now make up 23% of U.S. adults, down from 26%.
  • Mainline Protestants account for 11% of U.S. adults, down from 18%.
  • Members of historically Black Protestant churches make up 5% of U.S. adults, down from 7%.
• The share of Americans who identify with nondenominational Protestantism is growing.
• Many other Protestant denominational families (including Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans and others) have declined as shares of the population.
• The United Methodist Church, which has splintered in recent years, now makes up slightly fewer than 3% of U.S. adults, down from 5% in 2007.

US Christian Decline May Be Stabilizing: 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS)

After years of decline, the U.S. Christian share now shows signs of leveling off. The new Religious Landscape Study explores trends in identity, beliefs and practices. Pew Research Center.

www.pewresearch.org

 

[jethreauxdawg]

Biggest surprise here is only 1% Muslim.

 

[dorndawg]

Biggest surprise here is only 1% Muslim.

In my experience Muslim folks tend to live in clusters in bigger cities - seems like there just aren't any in vast swaths of the country. Which is of course true for for other smaller religions as well.

 

[HailStateMuse]

It is to no surprise why Christianity is dying, but I do think there has been a resurgence of traditional values as of late. I attribute this to a large amount of people reaching a breaking point in modern liberalism, causing an overcorrection back to the mean. How long that resurgence lasts and the impact it has on our culture remains to be seen

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

What is share that attend giant warehouses wearing bedazzled jeans with laser light shows, fog machines, rock bands, and constant hand waving over their hands? That segment has exploded.

 

[MStateDawg]

All theses news outlets constantly report on various polls, yet I'm nearly 50 and have never once been polled about anything other than those nielsen tv ratings envelops with a $2 bill.

Why should I believe any of these polls? On the political spectrum, they've been proven to be highly inaccurate in recent memory. Why would someone assume they're accurate in any other spectrum?

Sorry for the old man rant.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

All theses news outlets constantly report on various polls, yet I'm nearly 50 and have never once been polled about anything other than those nielsen tv ratings envelops with a $2 bill.

Why should I believe any of these polls? On the political spectrum, they've been proven to be highly inaccurate in recent memory. Why would someone assume they're accurate in any other spectrum?

Sorry for the old man rant.

If you don’t believe these polls about Christianity, you can go to hell.

 

[HailStout]

I am agnostic. I grew up in a church that represents everything wrong with Christianity in America. Judgmental. Knew everything about every verse in the Bible. I remember sermons that basically said what groups of people were going to hell. Catholics were among them. I find the last one hilarious since I’m now technically Catholic. The most damning thing it did, however, was involve its self in politics. I remember the moment that I began to leave the church. The pastor gave an entire sermon about how if you voted for Clinton over bush you weren’t really a Christian .

Ultimately, Christianity is supposed about being kind to others and giving of yourself. The rest is details. No one is going to want to join an organization when its members are being A holes. I know it’s not everybody, but I know everyone on this board has gotten an email where the person is a complete dick but puts a Bible verse at the end like that makes it okay.

Ultimately, just don’t be a dick