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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUS Population Turning Away From Organized Religion in Record Numbers
http://truth-out.org/news/item/29416-us-population-turning-away-from-organized-religion-in-record-numbersThere are more religiously unaffiliated people in the U.S. today than ever before. Starting in the 1980s, a variety of polls using different methodologies have come to the same conclusion: people who do not identify with religious labels are on the rise, perhaps even doubling in that time frame.
Some call them nones: agnostics, atheists, deists, secular humanists, general humanists, and people who just dont care to identify with any religious group. Its not exactly correct to call them nonbelievers, because some still have faith and spirituality in some sense or another. A 2012 Pew study noted that 30 percent of these people believe in "God or universal spirit" and around 20 percent even pray every day. But according to the latest research, Americans checking the none of the above box will make up an increasingly important force in the country. Other groups, like born-again evangelicals, have grown more percentage-wise, but the nones have them beat in absolute numbers.
Last year, for the very first time, Protestants lost their majority status in the Institutes annual report, making up only 47 percent of those surveyed. The religiously unaffiliated, who come in at 22 percent, boast numbers on par with major religious groups like American Catholics. All told, the unaffiliated is the second-largest group in the country. It was also the most common group chosen by residents in 13 states, with the largest share (a third or more) in Washington, Oregon and New Hampshire. In Ohio and Virginia, this group was tied for first place. The unaffiliated dont find too many like-minded folks down in Mississippi, however, where they make up only 10 percent of the population.
The study also found that there are 15 states where the unaffiliated constitute the second-largest group.
randome
(34,845 posts)All the labels can't go away soon enough for me.
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spanone
(135,781 posts)riversedge
(70,058 posts)yourout
(7,524 posts)Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)(graduate degrees) were the least religious -- not surprising at all. But it wasn't a perfect, clean slope -- i.e. the more education, the less religious didn't correspond exactly. There were peaks and dips in there. It's interesting.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,264 posts)2012 Pew survey:
http://www.pewforum.org/2012/10/09/nones-on-the-rise/
http://religions.pewforum.org/portraits (click on 'demographics', then select 'unaffiliated' under 'portrait of'; 'education distribution' is 3 from the bottom, and you can click on 'compare traditions' to compare the figures with others)
2008 Pew survey:
http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/table-education-by-tradition.pdf
[div style="font-size:1.07em; font-family:monospace; white-space:pre;"]
Less than High School Some College
High School Grad College Graduate Post-graduate N
Total Population 14 36 23 16 11 35,298
Unaffiliated 13 34 24 16 13 5,009
Atheist 8 28 23 21 21 509
Agnostic 5 22 29 23 20 825
Secular Unaffiliated 10 35 24 17 13 1,995
Religious Unaffiliated 21 40 22 11 6 1,680
longship
(40,416 posts)I hope that they drive even more people from religiosity. Because in today's world religion is increasingly poisonous. The main reason is that they increasingly want political power.
And everybody knows that religion and politics are a toxic mix. Also, religion and government, religion and science, religion and rationality, etc. Basically religion mixed with anything is toxic because religion itself is toxic.
Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)Last edited Wed Mar 4, 2015, 04:11 PM - Edit history (1)
It's no concidence that the Religious are relying on the Conservative to validate them.
Here is an intersting thought....if no political party catered to religion, would there be 35% of the population left that are Republican? Seriously, if the Republican stand of villifying the poor and removing all safety nets for the needy, is that very christian-like at all?
longship
(40,416 posts)I confess that I don't even have a speculation on that, beyond the fact of not thinking that could realistically happen.
I think the GOP knows that the religious right and the theocrats are their base. That is why they say things that are so barking mad.
Cha
(296,780 posts)Aloha, longship
adigal
(7,581 posts)and the number of kids who have no religious background or training today, compared with even 10 or 12 years ago, is noticeable. They no longer even know Adam and Eve, Noah, Ash Wednesday, Lent, really anything. Just a handful of kids know. And I teach 12th graders, so they should have at least gotten some cultural references.
And these are smart, good kids, too. It's just not a part of their lives.
mountain grammy
(26,598 posts)this to be true, I wonder if the more religious kids are home schooled or attending private religious academies.
asjr
(10,479 posts)are sent to religious schools or are home schooled. Some of the home schooled are taught by parents who sometimes have not had a high school education. When I bring that up I am told it is none of my business. That group seem to think someone like me is going straight to hell. I feel they are trading their children for a ticket to heaven. Or so they think. Isn't this how the Third Reich was started?
adigal
(7,581 posts)or they will just be dolts when it comes to many things.
douggg
(239 posts)I read a long time ago that the two most quoted literary references were the Bible and Shakespeare.
adigal
(7,581 posts)iandhr
(6,852 posts)I would check a box that says Jewish but I go to synagogue only the the high holy days and don't keep kosher. (To many tasty things I would miss out on)
There are also the two times a year Christians.
atreides1
(16,066 posts)Christmas and Easter Only!!!
reflection
(6,286 posts)Hope you don't mind.
PotatoChip
(3,186 posts)Unless absolutely necessary, as in such occasions as weddings and funerals.
KG
(28,751 posts)erronis
(15,174 posts)Wisht I could come up with a snappy phrase. Maybe -
Religion is what gives us a moral foundation. (NOT!)
rationalcalgarian
(294 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)All of us are militant, angry, worked-up people on the verge of keeling over in apoplexy 24/7 ...
according to many believers.
LeftinOH
(5,353 posts)...and it's too bad. There's nothing wrong with learning about the basic religious that have driven Western culture. It's our heritage, too. And I'm not referring to the hysterical "this s a Christian nation" rhetoric.
But soon enough the column will start shifting and the numbers rejecting western civilization grows as religion has.
People just cannot figure that the changing of the ages are disruptive and for good reason. Tomorrow doesn't include the western civilization, but they will usher in the new and improved 6th extinction.
Smart people are questioning both.
Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)Christianity (as well as most other major religions) is a religion of love and tolerance. "Love thy neighbor", "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone", the parable of the good Samaritan, the parable of the loaves and fishes, and so on. Even the Old Testament, with all its fire and brimstone, told folk to not harvest the corners of their fields, not harvest all their grapes or olives, but to leave some for the poor who could come and harvest the left-overs - the 'gleaners'.
We have so much hate and 'thou shalt' today and woe be unto you if you don't toe the line with the fundies. What happened to 'all you need is love'?
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)love, kindness and non-violence. Today we see the exact opposite.
phil89
(1,043 posts)human sacrifice to avoid damnation is not a religion of love. The very idea that people would take part in such a religion is sickening.
RandySF
(58,463 posts)I know a lot of fervent prayers went unanswered as people tried to save their homes and/or jobs.
sendero
(28,552 posts).... could not deliver on their promises. There was literally a subculture of Christian faith that preached something along the lines of "if you give the the church god will make you prosperous".
And guess what, He didn't.
justhanginon
(3,289 posts)of his ilk extremely prosperous. Seems like I recall seeing a pic of him outside his palatial mansion sitting in his bright red Ferrari. I wonder if he sent thank you cards to the donors. How stupid can people be? I guess that is a rhetorical question as we have pretty much seen the answer.
TBF
(32,002 posts)with the oil executives/heirs(heiresses). At Lakewood Church, Joel Osteen proclaims,"It's God's will for you to live in prosperity instead of poverty." The pastor of the Houston megachurch and wife Victoria certainly practice what they preach.
The couple has moved to a $10.5 million mansion in River Oaks (2010).
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)I heard one claim your donation will come back to you ten fold.
Try to call bullshit on it and some people will act as if you just spit on Spencer Tracy as Father Flanagan.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)sendero
(28,552 posts).... well reality winnows the pack of these people, eventually.
And folks who think Jesus wants them to drive a BMW are just missing the point totally anyway.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Look how far ahead of the curve the AUDIENCE is as opposed to the guests on this old clip from the 90s.
IthinkThereforeIAM
(3,075 posts)... the only church I can remember where the minister constantly harped about the need to tithe (10% of annual earnings to the church) was a Reformed church with a Robert Schuler worshipping man behind the pulpit. Of course there were some fights between members and the minister, but I digress ...
kwassa
(23,340 posts)yet they are being compared to religious groups being broken into much more specifically identified.
"Turning away" also sounds like too active of a movement.
In a much more passive way, perhaps they have simply stopped going to church. Going to church requires action, not going requires nothing.
sinkingfeeling
(51,436 posts)just as 'religious' is an adjective describing a single thing.
un·af·fil·i·at·ed
/ˌənəˈfilēˌādəd/
adjective: unaffiliated
not officially attached to or connected with an organization or group.
re·li·gious
/rəˈlijəs/
adjective
relating to or believing in a religion.
kwassa
(23,340 posts)Some call them nones: agnostics, atheists, deists, secular humanists, general humanists, and people who just dont care to identify with any religious group. Its not exactly correct to call them nonbelievers, because some still have faith and spirituality in some sense or another. A 2012 Pew study noted that 30 percent of these people believe in "God or universal spirit" and around 20 percent even pray every day. But according to the latest research, Americans checking the none of the above box will make up an increasingly important force in the country.
This is a collection of people that may have very little in common with one another, with widely varied views about religion and spirituality, or lack thereof. For them to have any kind of force, like the author is suggesting, they would have to have something that unifies their viewpoint. This collection of people are defined only by what they don't believe in, not what they do believe in. There is no such unity.
sinkingfeeling
(51,436 posts)kwassa
(23,340 posts)The article is comparing the percentage of one non-unified group, the unaffiliated, against the separate percentages of different religious groups.
Pretty bogus.
Also, there is nothing new in this trend. The numbers have been dropping in churches for the past 60 years. This is not even news.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)mopinko
(69,987 posts)between the pedophiles and the madelaine laundries, et al, i think the great deception has come apart at the seams.
fasttense
(17,301 posts)From the 1st invention of gods, religion has been used to market obedience. It is one of the best marketing tools ever invented. Look how it manipulates people into hate, hysteria, abuse, torture and on and on. It has been used to make mothers mutilate and abuse their own children. It has been used to encourage murder and mass suicide. It is one hell of a marketing tool.
If it was genuine we would recognize it.
mountain grammy
(26,598 posts)as they are now in America. If religion appears to be dying, it is more important than ever to "establish" a state religion. Oh, the Constitution prohibits it you say? Well, somebody better tell 5 corruprt justices of our Supreme Court that fact.
Skidmore
(37,364 posts)I had not seen that article before and welcome that news. Recalling the personal difficulties I went through to get back to this nation, I have been increasingly alarmed at the cracks made in the wall between church and state. Even more frightening is the politicization of the courts because I don't feel that there is much of a safeguard. If people become disgusted enough and can get ahead of the money, we can change legislators and eventually change laws. The SCOTUS is not so easily turned.
This area of political influence is a source of great stress to me because institutionalization of bigotry is something I fear for many reasons.
Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)you don't have to have a church to have a religion.
randome
(34,845 posts)But one step at a time, I guess.
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Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)the more religion will drop -- eventually. For example, many non-church goers might hang on to their religion for the rest of their lives, but the ties that shackle will be far weakened in their kids, and their kids will grow up to be "nones."
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)I'm a Unitarian.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Those are the ones that have the really scary ideas.
Especially the fans of Jack Van Impe.
<shuddereth>
spooky3
(34,403 posts)Disapproval of declaring oneself in that group, whereas being "devout" is generally respected.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)heaven05
(18,124 posts)Iliyah
(25,111 posts)just look at all the spewing is coming from, so called "Christians".
Hatred, lies, and trying to take total control of your life.
ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)Yeah, that can be quite depressing.
vkkv
(3,384 posts)Think about this, if the Bible was just "the Bible - word of God" we wouldn't have so many interpretations and different versions now would we? There would be just ONE Bible -not hundreds of interpretations in English alone.
Apparently a lot of people want in on the action = $$$
yortsed snacilbuper
(7,939 posts)raven mad
(4,940 posts)I find it every time I walk outside with the northern lights blazing. Or when camping and a wolverine comes close to sniff and get a photo op - of course, I'm in a tree by then!
Organized religion is nothing but control by the few over the many.
romanic
(2,841 posts)There have been several churches in my neck of the woods that either consolidated with another church (this is what happened to my childhood Catholic church)or closed down due to shrinking congregations (or a shift in population around the church). Sometimes the older church-goers die off and/or the church itself is no longer "profitable". Regardless I think more and more people just aren't into organized religion because some of the rituals are archaic or just don't mean much beyond symbolism. *shrug*