NORC survey finds America’s Protestant majority is shrinking

[DaveSZ]

http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/040819/protestants.shtml

NORC survey finds America’s Protestant majority is shrinking
By William Harms
News Office


The increasing secularization of American society has taken a particular toll on Protestant identity, presenting the prospect that after more than 200 years of history, the United States may soon no longer be a majority Protestant country, according to a new study by the National Opinion Research Center.

The percentage of the population that is Protestant has been falling and will likely fall below 50 percent by mid-decade or may already be there, the study showed.

Between 1972 and 1993, the Protestant share of the population remained stable, but then a decline set in. In 1993, 63 percent of Americans were Protestant, but by 2002, the number was 52 percent, the NORC research found. During the same time, the number of people who said they had no religion went up from 9 percent to nearly 14 percent. The survey listed people as Protestant if they indicated they were members of a particular Protestant denomination, such as Baptist, United Methodist or Episcopalian. Membership in many of the Protestant denominations has been declining.

The change is another example of how the country is moving toward becoming a nation of minorities, said Tom Smith, Director of NORC’s General Social Survey, a 32-year-old survey that is widely referenced by social scientists as one of the nation’s most scientifically reliable gauges of public trends. NORC research assistant Seokho Kim, a graduate student in Sociology, co-authored the study, “The Vanishing Protestant Majority.”

-more

[WMliberal]

1. and good riddance

i wonder if it has anything to do with larger numbers receiving higher education...

[oneighty]

2. Decline and fall of the WASPs?

Oh My Gosh. Can the Republican party be far behind?

180---WASP by birth. Minority by choice.

180

[greekspeak]

3. Gaping hole in the stats

"The survey listed people as Protestant if they indicated they were members of a particular Protestant denomination, such as Baptist, United Methodist or Episcopalian." Hello? Does the word "Non Denomenational" ring a bell to anyone? Does anyone know how many nut case fundevangelicals fall into the "non-denominational" camp? Maybe protestants are leaving traditional denomenations, but they are going over to non-affiliated churches in droves.

[stavka]

4. How does it define Protestant?

I would assume it makes a distinction between traditional protestant religions (Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Calvinist, Baptists) the pseudo Protestant Episcopals, and "new" religions they don't count as Protestant in their study - all the Evangelicals, that I understand are the fastest growing in this country.

[DaveSZ]

5. Kick

I agree that it's loosely defined.

I have nothing against Protestants or anyone of any religion.

My only beef is with those who seek to control the lives of others' personal lives and have a disregard for the right of privacy.

[cushla_machree]

6. i was under the impression

that evangelicals fall under protestantism.

[stavka]

8. I would agree with you...

That the broader Christian world is either Catholic/Reformed/ or Orthodox

and their various permutations....

Which is why if "Evangelicals" are considered "Protestant i.e. Reformed" this study's results make no sense to me.

[UdoKier]

7. Good. Looking forward to a sensible agnostic majority.

It's great to be curious and spiritual, but when people think they have a lock on "The Truth" of existence, they inevitably turn into assholes who want to impose it on everybody else.

I'm sure the increasing extremism of most pretestant churches has also contributed to the decline. I wouldn't set foot in ANY christian church if not for a wedding or a funeral now.

[stavka]

9. You might be missing some great art and history

"I wouldn't set foot in ANY Christian church if not for a wedding or a funeral now."

...and I hope you don't need to do too many funerals out of normal time.

[UdoKier]

10. You've seen one Jesus stained-glass window...

...you know the rest...

[stavka]

11. ...I used to feel that way...

I'm not a Christian...but there is really some great stuff out there, or even really out there - the Gargoyles at the national cathedral are amazing, but I wouldn't want to spoil the fun.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

12. The end of the "WASP Culture" that has hurt this Country has...

finnally ended!

:bounce: