America becoming less Christian

[Locutus]

Praise Jeebus!!   



(CNN) -- America is a less Christian nation than it was 20 years ago, and Christianity is not losing out to other religions, but primarily to a rejection of religion altogether, a survey published Monday found.


Survey finds percentage of of Americans identifying themselves as Christian has fallen over two decades.

Three out of four Americans call themselves Christian, according to the American Religious Identification Survey from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1990, the figure was closer to nine out of 10 -- 86 percent.

At the same time there has been an increase in the number of people expressing no religious affiliation.

The survey also found that "born-again" or "evangelical" Christianity is on the rise, while the percentage who belong to "mainline" congregations such as the Episcopal or Lutheran churches has fallen.

One in three Americans consider themselves evangelical, and the number of people associated with mega-churches has skyrocketed from less than 200,000 in 1990 to more than 8 million in the latest survey.

The rise in evangelical Christianity is contributing to the rejection of religion altogether by some Americans, said Mark Silk of Trinity College.

"In the 1990s, it really sunk in on the American public generally that there was a long-lasting 'religious right' connected to a political party, and that turned a lot of people the other way," he said of the link between the Republican Party and groups such as the Moral Majority and Focus on the Family.  Watch author on mixing religion and politics »

"In an earlier time, people who would have been content to say, 'Well, I'm some kind of a Protestant,' now say 'Hell no, I won't go,'" he told CNN.

Silk also said the revelation that some Catholic priests had sexually abused children -- and senior figures in the church hierarchy had helped to hide it -- had driven some Catholics away from religion.

And, he said, it is now more socially acceptable than it once was to admit having no religion.

"You're not declaring yourself a total pariah. The culture has changed in a way that makes it easier to say, 'No, I don't have a religion. Even in the past year, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama feel obliged to talk about 'those of no faith,'" he pointed out. Obama mentioned people without faith in his inaugural address in January, making him the first president to do so.

In the survey, one in five Americans said they have no religious identity or did not answer the question, and more than one in four said they do not expect to have a religious funeral.

The rise in what the survey authors call "nones" is the only trend reflected in every single state in the study, Silk said.

"We don't see anything else in the survey that is nationwide," he told CNN.

Other findings include:

• The percentage of Catholics in the United States has remained steady at about one in four since 1990, while the percentage of other Christians has plummeted from 60 percent to 50 percent.

• The percentage of Muslims has doubled since 1990, but remains statistically very small, only 0.3 percent in the original survey and 0.6 percent today.

• Mormons have remained steady as a percentage of the population, even as the number of people in the United States has grown. They make up 1.4 percent of the population.

• The number of Jews in the United States is falling if the category includes only those who define themselves as Jews religiously, but has remained the same if the category includes people who consider themselves ethnically Jewish.



The survey polled 54,461 Americans between February and November of last year. Pollsters conducted the research in both English and Spanish.

The survey is the third in a series, following polls in 1990 and 2001.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/09/us.religion.less.christian/index.html

[Henry Hawk]

duh!!!...why do you think we are heading down the drain as a Nation?..............

[Locutus]

It goes without saying that I disagree that we're going down the drain. 

Just look at today's stem cell policy reversal for one small example of something going right for a change. 

[Henry Hawk]

Just look at today's stem cell policy reversal for one small example of something going right for a change. 

well, time will tell us the truth on that one.....so far, I'm having a difficult time dealing with the hope and change...but time will tell on that too...

[kimmi]

You would think with all the chicken little's out there claiming that the sky is falling, that people would be lined up to be saved all over the place!

Guess not! 

[Henry Hawk]

You would think with all the chicken little's out there claiming that the sky is falling, that people would be lined up to be saved all over the place!

Guess not! 

well, now that we have the messiah for president....heck, who needs to go to church?....

hey, did you mention chickens?... ..

[Exterminator]

duh!!!...why do you think we are heading down the drain as a Nation?..............

Because we let anyone breed.

[Palehorse]

America becoming less Christian

Perhaps it is because we are on the cusp of a new age of enlightenment? 

[Henry Hawk]

America becoming less Christian

Perhaps it is because we are on the cusp of a new age of enlightenment? 

do you really believe that?...

[Henry Hawk]

speech by Mke Pence, that he recently delivered to a large national gathering....


We must recognize that our present crisis is not merely economic and political but moral in nature. At the root of these times is the realization that we are struggling because so many in authority have walked away from the timeless truths of integrity, personal responsibility, an honest day's work for an honest day's pay, and the notion that we should live and work in a way that treats others as we would want to be treated. [Matthew 7:12]

The Old Book says, "If the foundations crumble, how can the righteous stand?" [Psalm 11:3] If the foundations of integrity and personal responsibility crumble, indeed how can a free society endure? The truth is, we must get back to basics.

Recently, U. S. News & World Report called to say they had heard a rumor that I open my staff meetings at the House Republican Conference in prayer. (Only in Washington DC is being caught in private prayer a newsworthy event!) We told them, "Yes, the Congressman does open meetings in prayer; we pray for the President, for colleagues in both parties – and sometimes we even pray for the press!" The truth is that in times like these it is good to "remember what your knees are for."

Our Founders believed in prayer – as did one of our greatest presidents: an Indiana farm boy named Abe Lincoln.

At the height of a civil war and on the eve of a bloody battle on a field in Gettysburg , President Lincoln fell to his knees and prayed. Lincoln later recalled to a Union general, "I don't know how it was, and I cannot explain it, but soon a sweet comfort crept into my soul. The feeling came that God had taken the whole business into His hands and that things would go right."

Like millions of Americans, I've been spending some time on my knees lately and I've got the same feeling that, in the midst of these dark days, by His grace, things will go right again.

I close where this address began – standing, as I did just a few short weeks ago, on the barricades of Fort McHenry, in Baltimore harbor.

Facing overwhelming opposition, and what must have seemed like the inevitable advance of defeat, a small band of regulars withstood 25 hours of bombardment at the hands of the British fleet. And when the sun rose and smoke cleared, because of their courage and determination, our flag was still there. A poem was written, an anthem inspired, and a nation reborn to freedom and independence.

Inspired by their example, let us conservatives resolve this day that we, like they, will stand and fight; we will not yield. And with determination and courage and faith, we, like those Americans so many years ago, will hold the banner of freedom high and the good and great people of this land will rally to our cause. So help us God."

Mike Pence

I think THAT says alot about our nation at this time.....

[Mr442]

Yes, some of our founders may have believed in prayer, but they knew it was best kept out of our government.  Mike Pence needs to follow their lead. 

It was good news to see religion dwindle.  There may be hope for mankind yet as more unburden themselves from superstition, and start dealing with reality.

[Sandy Eggo]

[Palehorse]

do you really believe that?...

I do! While it may not be a singular reason for the decline, I do suspect it to be a major contributor.

[Henry Hawk]

I believe that we are one catastrophe away from becoming a MORE Christian, America...

Look back at 9/11........there was Christians crawling out of the wood work......

[Henry Hawk]

Yes, some of our founders may have believed in prayer, but they knew it was best kept out of our government.  Mike Pence needs to follow their lead. 

It was good news to see religion dwindle.  There may be hope for mankind yet as more unburden themselves from superstition, and start dealing with reality.

what exactly is he (Mike Pence) forcing into government?....

He simply gave a speech, with his regards to prayer.....