Christians declining in raw numbers *and* as share of American population
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  Christians declining in raw numbers *and* as share of American population
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Author Topic: Christians declining in raw numbers *and* as share of American population  (Read 4268 times)
All Along The Watchtower
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« on: May 12, 2015, 12:25:31 PM »

According to the Pew Research Center's massive new study - which also found that American Christians are become more racially and ethnically diverse, and that religious "Nones" and non-Christian religions have both increased in numbers and as a share of the US population.

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http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/

Interactive Tool:
http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/
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DemPGH
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« Reply #1 on: May 12, 2015, 03:11:10 PM »

"Nones" have jumped to 22.8%? Wow! I just want to see "Nones" enter the mainstream, which is what I think they are in the process of doing.

I'm sure that regular church attendees are overwhelmingly 60+, and it'll be interesting to see if this trend continues. I definitely think the evangelical conservative schtick is overall in lots of trouble, and indeed we see them lash out from time to time to let us know they are still kicking.


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Fascinating. Where's that "IT'S HAPPENING" .gif? Tongue
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The Mikado
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« Reply #2 on: May 12, 2015, 03:53:15 PM »
« Edited: May 12, 2015, 03:56:22 PM by The Mikado »

We'll see if the Millennial generation continues to be this irreligious when they hit their prime childbearing years and start having to wrangle with religious education or the lack thereof of their kids. Traditionally, having children increased the religiosity of demographic groups.

This trend isn't unexpected, but the speed of it is. I was expecting "None" to place in the high teens by the next Pew survey, not 23%.

EDIT: Thought: maybe the speed with which None is raising also has to do with increased comfort among lapsed/non-practicing people to embrace the None label rather than continuing to identify with a birth religion they don't practice anymore.
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Joe Biden 2020
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« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2015, 04:42:36 PM »

"Nones" have jumped to 22.8%? Wow! I just want to see "Nones" enter the mainstream, which is what I think they are in the process of doing.

I'm sure that regular church attendees are overwhelmingly 60+, and it'll be interesting to see if this trend continues. I definitely think the evangelical conservative schtick is overall in lots of trouble, and indeed we see them lash out from time to time to let us know they are still kicking.


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Fascinating. Where's that "IT'S HAPPENING" .gif? Tongue

What non-Christians don't realize is that Christianity will never be stamped out completely in America or anywhere in the world.  God always leaves a remnant of people in every generation who love Him, want to serve Him, and love His people.  Christianity will never become obsolete.  Evangelism will never be outdated.  As much as the government, atheists, or Muslims try to stop it, they can't.  Pure and simple.  The Bible and everything contained therein is a fact of life.  It doesn't apply to just its followers.  It applies to every single person in the world.  There will always be people who love God and want to keep his commandments.  There will always be people who disapprove of gay marriage.  All of the non-Christians have already lost the war.  The Bible declares Christians will have the ultimate and final victory.  It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when will we realize that.
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DC Al Fine
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« Reply #4 on: May 12, 2015, 04:50:04 PM »

"Nones" have jumped to 22.8%? Wow! I just want to see "Nones" enter the mainstream, which is what I think they are in the process of doing.

I'm sure that regular church attendees are overwhelmingly 60+, and it'll be interesting to see if this trend continues.

The survey doesn't remotely agree with your assertion.

EDIT: Thought: maybe the speed with which None is raising also has to do with increased comfort among lapsed/non-practicing people to embrace the None label rather than continuing to identify with a birth religion they don't practice anymore.

While there was a genuine decline in the number of believers, a lot of the decline is non-practicers going nominals. (Did anyone really believe that 75% of Americans were actually Christian?) This of course isn't good for the religious, but it's not quite so bad as mass apostasy.

Overall, not a good result for Christianity, although I can take solace that the Evangelical branch of Presbyterianism is gaining on the mainline branch.
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The Mikado
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« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2015, 05:57:50 PM »

Thought these charts would be useful.





Looks like evangelicals are basically treading water while the major fall-off is among the mainline Protestants. Pretty good evidence for the "it's lapsed Christians ceasing to identify" idea.
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RFayette
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« Reply #6 on: May 12, 2015, 06:56:57 PM »

The decline of Mainline Protestantism is concerning. 

I would wager most of the "Nothing in particular" folks are Christian-ish and may even go to church every now and again though.
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they don't love you like i love you
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« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2015, 08:45:52 AM »

That Catholic decline when also considering that Catholic immigration is quite high provides more proof that very few people ever disidentify as Catholic whether practicing or not because "CULTURE!" is an outdated and now absurd notion.
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Beet
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« Reply #8 on: May 13, 2015, 11:20:07 AM »

Wow, an 8 percent drop in 7 years is huge.
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afleitch
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« Reply #9 on: May 13, 2015, 11:29:44 AM »

Wow, an 8 percent drop in 7 years is huge.

The USA's general 'religiousity' (at least in terms of self perception) has been a bit of an exception in the west for the past two decades (even taking into account American exceptionalism in itself...)

I tend to think it's been somewhat overinflated, coupled with general (and deliberate) misunderstanding of what not having faith actually means on a person to person level. I think it's starting to correct itself in survey's like this.
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Small L
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« Reply #10 on: May 13, 2015, 12:40:37 PM »

That Catholic decline when also considering that Catholic immigration is quite high provides more proof that very few people ever disidentify as Catholic whether practicing or not because "CULTURE!" is an outdated and now absurd notion.
This post is confusing. What exactly are you trying to say?
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Panda Express
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« Reply #11 on: May 13, 2015, 05:06:37 PM »

I blame the Internet
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« Reply #12 on: May 13, 2015, 05:22:12 PM »

That Catholic decline when also considering that Catholic immigration is quite high provides more proof that very few people ever disidentify as Catholic whether practicing or not because "CULTURE!" is an outdated and now absurd notion.
This post is confusing. What exactly are you trying to say?
BRTD to English:

Even though most immigrants to the US are Catholic, the absolute number of Catholics has fallen. This means that the idea of "cultural Catholics" may be in decline, or perhaps never existed.

Worth mentioning also that this is a point that BRTD makes constantly and is in general really kind of obsessed with and triumphalist about, which is why I feel kind of grudging in admitting that he's not wrong...
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TJ in Oregon
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« Reply #13 on: May 13, 2015, 08:06:52 PM »

That Catholic decline when also considering that Catholic immigration is quite high provides more proof that very few people ever disidentify as Catholic whether practicing or not because "CULTURE!" is an outdated and now absurd notion.

When you look at the numbers for retention and conversion, the reason why the number of Catholics is shrinking is less about poor retention (the retention isn't much different than the other groups) but a lack of converting anyone.

Interestingly, the nones seem to have the opposite problem, a lot of converts but a surprisingly low retention rate.
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RFayette
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« Reply #14 on: May 13, 2015, 10:50:17 PM »

Those are good numbers for Evangelicals.  They're going to be a strong influence on our culture for decades to come.
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Linus Van Pelt
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« Reply #15 on: May 14, 2015, 08:11:24 PM »

Interestingly, the nones seem to have the opposite problem, a lot of converts but a surprisingly low retention rate.

I wonder (and I really just mean wonder - this could be completely wrong) whether some Evangelicals are reporting that they were raised as "none" when really they were kind of casually Protestant. I'm thinking in connection with Evangelicals' tendency to use the word "Christian" just for born-again Evangelicals, or their tendency to deny having "religion", because their true Christianity is not a "religion". There is a kind of rejection of normal religious classification because it makes Evangelical Protestantism look just like one group among many.
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DC Al Fine
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« Reply #16 on: May 14, 2015, 08:32:05 PM »

Interestingly, the nones seem to have the opposite problem, a lot of converts but a surprisingly low retention rate.

I wonder (and I really just mean wonder - this could be completely wrong) whether some Evangelicals are reporting that they were raised as "none" when really they were kind of casually Protestant.

I think you are correct. Evangelicals focus on being "born again" and usually require a stricter degree of adherence than most other groups to view someone as a Christian. It makes sense that they would apply this to themselves, so the guy who attended St. Mark's Episcopal Church irregularly before converting would quite logically view themselves as non-Christian before their conversion.
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Figs
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« Reply #17 on: May 15, 2015, 07:04:50 AM »

Kirk Cameron insists that before his conversion he was a die hard atheist. I don't really believe his classification for a second.
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RFayette
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« Reply #18 on: May 17, 2015, 07:35:46 AM »

Kirk Cameron insists that before his conversion he was a die hard atheist. I don't really believe his classification for a second.

Eh, before the Internet, atheists were less strong in their beliefs (at least public ally) so I kind of believe it.
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Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook
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« Reply #19 on: May 18, 2015, 01:05:40 AM »

Kirk Cameron insists that before his conversion he was a die hard atheist. I don't really believe his classification for a second.

None of the infamous Neo-atheists who are responsible for the "faith" becoming so...radical were relevant when he was converted, though.
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Figs
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« Reply #20 on: May 18, 2015, 06:50:36 AM »

Kirk Cameron insists that before his conversion he was a die hard atheist. I don't really believe his classification for a second.

None of the infamous Neo-atheists who are responsible for the "faith" becoming so...radical were relevant when he was converted, though.

I understand this. I'm just saying that I think he very likely exaggerates how much of a die hard atheist he was before his conversion, because it makes the story more dramatic.
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RFayette
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« Reply #21 on: May 18, 2015, 06:07:41 PM »

Kirk Cameron insists that before his conversion he was a die hard atheist. I don't really believe his classification for a second.

None of the infamous Neo-atheists who are responsible for the "faith" becoming so...radical were relevant when he was converted, though.

I understand this. I'm just saying that I think he very likely exaggerates how much of a die hard atheist he was before his conversion, because it makes the story more dramatic.
Being openly atheist at all basically implies being a "die-hard atheist" at the time.

Remember, religion didn't decline much until post-Cold War so during Cameron's time the level of "No religion" people was much lower than it is now and as such, other people would likely call you a "die-hard atheist" if you said something non-religious.

These days, in liberal Internet circles like the Young Turks, being non-religious is practically a badge of honor.
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RINO Tom
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« Reply #22 on: May 21, 2015, 01:23:01 AM »

I was reading an article that was saying all this is really saying is that it's becoming more and more acceptable to be a "None," hypothesizing that a lot of people who didn't consider themselves to be at all religious might have just identified with whatever they were raised as in 2000 but now might feel more free to say "I'm unaffiliated."  Two of the stats he used to back up this hypothesis is that the number of Americans who say they believe in SOME kind of God isn't really declining all that much and the percentage of Americans who go to church "regularly" is actually not all that much different than in the 1940s ... It's just less of an expectation to be openly religious today.
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Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers
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« Reply #23 on: May 24, 2015, 04:57:07 AM »

Most people like to master in any religion; the master-disciple relationship. As we attempt to reconcile our sins with holy spirit.


But view of death; is up to individual, if they want to believe the holy spirit embodied Christ at his resurrection.

But, most religions do believe in survival after death.
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Oldiesfreak1854
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« Reply #24 on: June 16, 2015, 07:14:30 PM »

Just because somebody identifies their religious beliefs as "none" or "unaffiliated" doesn't make him/her an atheist.  Just keep that in mind before you make much out of this.
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