Folks are not feeling the faith these days. A new American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), finds that a good amount of religious denominations have lost ground since 1990.
I wonder why....
Among the key findings in the 2008 survey:
• So many Americans claim no religion at all (15%, up from 8% in 1990), that this category now outranks every other major U.S. religious group except Catholics and Baptists. In a nation that has long been mostly Christian, "the challenge to Christianity … does not come from other religions but from a rejection of all forms of organized religion," the report concludes.
• Catholic strongholds in New England and the Midwest have faded as immigrants, retirees and young job-seekers have moved to the Sun Belt. While bishops from the Midwest to Massachusetts close down or consolidate historic parishes, those in the South are scrambling to serve increasing numbers of worshipers.
• Baptists, 15.8% of those surveyed, are down from 19.3% in 1990. Mainline Protestant denominations, once socially dominant, have seen sharp declines: The percentage of Methodists, for example, dropped from 8% to 5%.
• The percentage of those who choose a generic label, calling themselves simply Christian, Protestant, non-denominational, evangelical or "born again," was 14.2%, about the same as in 1990.
• Jewish numbers showed a steady decline, from 1.8% in 1990 to 1.2% today. The percentage of Muslims, while still slim, has doubled, from 0.3% to 0.6%. Analysts within both groups suggest those numbers understate the groups' populations.
Ihsan Bagby, associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky-Lexington, says that most national telephone surveys such as ARIS undercount Muslims, and that he is conducting a study of mosques' membership sponsored by the Hartford (Conn.) Institute for Religious Research.
Meanwhile, some Jewish surveys that report larger numbers of Jews also include "cultural" Jews — those who connect to Judiasm through its traditions, but not necessarily through actively practicing the religion.
Meanwhile, nearly 2.8 million people now identify with dozens of new religious movements, calling themselves Wiccan, pagan or "Spiritualist," which the survey does not define.
Wicca, a contemporary form of paganism that includes goddess worship and reverence for nature, has even made its way to Arlington National Cemetery, where the Pentagon now allows Wiccans' five-pointed-star symbol to be used on veterans' gravestones.
This is something religious groups need to think about when they are spitting out foolishness on a daily basis. So ironic, isn't it.
3 comments:
Very interesting. Thanks for posting.
Well, to be precise the number has only gone done a little, it's a bit earlier to proclaim victory. However, I think one thing the study does provide is a layout for religious bodies to map out there future.
The idea of going into a building and praying for everything was convenient for most of history; however, when you have the means to essentially produce and control your food supply there is less of a conceptual need for a fertility god. So I think the question religious bodies need to ask themselves is something along the lines of why they need faith in the 21st century.
And I think that is possible.
Also we have to keep in mind we have a long history of Great Awakenings in this country, where religious thought undergoes a transformation. A lot of people think evangelism was the next great awakening, but I don't think that was the case.
We are already seen it in some places in new Christian movements that focus on issues like environmentalism and stewardship and much more.
I think we have come to realize that Religion is not a positive force in our lives. When you or your best friend is gay and your priest or immam tells you that they are going to hell even though they are a better person than 99% of those sitting in the congregation, something just does not ring true, does it?
Besides, who needs religion when we have science?
Post a Comment