Poll: Rise In Americans With No Religion

15 Percent Do Not Identify With A Faith; Catholics Remain Largest Religious Group

(AP)  A wide-ranging study on American religious life found that the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say they have no religion at all.

Fifteen percent of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990, according to the American Religious Identification Survey.

The study found that the numbers of Americans with no religion rose in every state.

"No other religious bloc has kept such a pace in every state," the study's authors said.

In the Northeast, self-identified Catholics made up 36 percent of adults last year, down from 43 percent in 1990. At the same time, however, Catholics grew to about one-third of the adult population in California and Texas, and one-quarter of Floridians, largely due to Latino immigration, according to the research.

Nationally, Catholics remain the largest religious group, with 57 million people saying they belong to the church. The tradition gained 11 million followers since 1990, but its share of the population fell by about a percentage point to 25 percent.

Christians who aren't Catholic also are a declining segment of the country.

In 2008, Christians comprised 76 percent of U.S. adults, compared to about 77 percent in 2001 and about 86 percent in 1990. Researchers said the dwindling ranks of mainline Protestants, including Methodists, Lutherans and Episcopalians, largely explains the shift. Over the last seven years, mainline Protestants dropped from just over 17 percent to 12.9 percent of the population.

The report from The Program on Public Values at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, surveyed 54,461 adults in English or Spanish from February through November of last year. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.5 percentage points. The findings are part of a series of studies on American religion by the program that will later look more closely at reasons behind the trends.

The current survey, being released Monday, found traditional organized religion playing less of a role in many lives. Thirty percent of married couples did not have a religious wedding ceremony and 27 percent of respondents said they did not want a religious funeral.

About 12 percent of Americans believe in a higher power but not the personal God at the core of monotheistic faiths. And, since 1990, a slightly greater share of respondents - 1.2 percent - said they were part of new religious movements, including Scientology, Wicca and Santeria.

The study also found signs of a growing influence of churches that either don't belong to a denomination or play down their membership in a religious group.

Respondents who called themselves "non-denominational Christian" grew from 0.1 percent in 1990 to 3.5 percent last year. Congregations that most often use the term are megachurches considered "seeker sensitive." They use rock style music and less structured prayer to attract people who don't usually attend church. Researchers also found a small increase in those who prefer being called evangelical or born-again, rather than claim membership in a denomination.

Evangelical or born-again Americans make up 34 percent of all American adults and 45 percent of all Christians and Catholics, the study found. Researchers found that 18 percent of Catholics consider themselves born-again or evangelical, and nearly 39 percent of mainline Protestants prefer those labels. Many mainline Protestant groups are plagued by conflict over how they should interpret what the Bible says about gay relationships, salvation and other issues.

The percentage of Pentecostals remained mostly steady since 1990 at 3.5 percent, a surprising finding considering the dramatic spread of the tradition worldwide. Pentecostals are known for a spirited form of Christianity that includes speaking in tongues and a belief in modern-day miracles.

Mormon numbers also held steady over the period at 1.4 percent of the population, while the number of Jews who described themselves as religiously observant continued to drop, from 1.8 percent in 1990 to 1.2 percent, or 2.7 million people, last year. Researchers plan a broader survey on people who consider themselves culturally Jewish but aren't religious.

The study found that the percentage of Americans who identified themselves as Muslim grew to 0.6 percent of the population, while growth in Eastern religions such as Buddhism slightly slowed.

[diogeron]

It is heartening to see that the number of people are migrating to a world ruled by science and reason rather than superstition and religious mythology. Perhaps Americans are finally starting to grow up. As the slogan on the buses in London says, "There is no god. Now go enjoy your life."

[honestabe8]

Ooooh...Hell...the punishment threatened to relligious slaves everywhere

[dougnshannon]

No really you lost when you end up in Hell....whether I was religious or not..no debating that...

[dougnshannon]

Sorry - not moving on to a new topic when you cannot finish the last one.

It's bad form, and I won't waste more time when I already know that you'll refuse to admit you're wrong even when proven so.
Posted by slownewsday2009 at 10:54 AM : Mar 11, 2009
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you want a debate of logic on a topic that contains no logic. You based your arguement on me being religious based on my belief in the resurection of Christ. You say God is supernatural I say He is my Father. Futhermore no where in the Bible is the topic of religion ever discussed except when Jesus makes reference to the scribes and pharisees(the religious people of his day) If you being secular, want to place a title of religion on my beliefs that is fine with me, however I can assure there will be many religious people that will never see the Kingdom of God. I prefer to call my belief FAITH not religion because religion will not get you into Heaven, regardless of what you believe. You can argue until the 2nd coming of Christ, but in the end it will be of little consequence. The poeple who chose FAITH in Christ as their redeemer will inherit eternal life and the ones who didn't, well it won't be pleasant. Again religion has absolutely nothing to do with my faith in God

[dougnshannon]

urguments are based on believe...how's this? can you fully explain everything about the universe? when you can then and only then will accept you aurguement

[dougnshannon]

Did you even bother to read my response to that? Try it before you repeat yourself too many times, which you seem prone to do.

The sun rising is easily explainable through science (we rotate on an axis), and even without science, observation can predict it.

Stick with the program. You don't seem to fare well in logical arguments.
Posted by slownewsday2009 at 10:49 AM : Mar 11, 2009
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ok so what causes the earth to rotate? gravity correct? what causes gravity????? How did the planets get here to begin with...oh thaty's right the big bang theory..so what caused the big bang theory?? maybe it was the religious big bangers?

[dougnshannon]

I'm the link is sitting on my desk..I'll be more than happy to scan it for you and email it if you'd like

[dougnshannon]

However feel free to lable me as you want, your opinion matters little in the scheme of life, and none in mine. I chose to believe in the risen Christ and not religion as religion and 4 bucks will get you some coffee at Starbucks..There are many supernatural events that occur daily such as the sun rising, gravity, and just plain life itself but I hardly call those religious, but according to your definiton they would be, such stated earlier that I as well as others believe the sun will rise tomorrow and neither you nor science can explain that thus making it supernatural however not religion

[dougnshannon]

Nice way to dodge the fact that you are, in fact, religious, and cannot give any proof to the contrary.
Posted by slownewsday2009 at 10:32 AM : Mar 11, 2009
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obviously you didn't read the definition I gave you from Funk and Wagnalls

[dougnshannon]

I am not a liberal. I do not believe in welfare - not for individuals (democrats), and not for corporations and the rich (republicans).

Nice way to dodge the fact that you are, in fact, religious, and cannot give any proof to the contrary.
Posted by slownewsday2009 at 10:32 AM : Mar 11, 2009
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that was the original topic from yesterday

[dougnshannon]

Your argument is that you are not religious. Don't try to divert the topic. A belief in the supernatural in defining your value system does in fact make you religious.
Posted by slownewsday2009 at 10:20 AM : Mar 11, 2009
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I don't believe God to be supernatural if I was created in the image of Him. He may be supernatural to you, since you niether know Him or believe in Him, but rest assured one day you will meet Him..

[dougnshannon]

The square root of -1 has nothing to do with morals or values. Another bad example. But feel free to try again.
Posted by slownewsday2009 at 9:41 AM : Mar 11, 2009
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but it does with the supernatural same as ghosts and anything not explain..be a little precise with your words unless you consider ghostbusters a religion as well

[dougnshannon]

My original point with was it's funny to me that most liberals are atheists and believe in evolution, which strongly supports the doctrine of "only the strong will evovle and survive", yet your type of govenrment continues to spoon feed the poor and support the taxing welfare system of this country..

[dougnshannon]

Any argument past here should answer that directly, if you can actually practice logic.
Posted by slownewsday2009 at 9:46 AM : Mar 11, 2009
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because my belief system does not equal yours that makes me wrong? whos to say you are right? surely not you since you don't know everything. Furthermore emperical thinking is based on observations and in the case of morality it passed down from gereration to generation so to say that your belief is purely empirical would be making the claim that you solely exsist in this universe, otherwise your observations are skewed by human nature and enviromental factors

[dougnshannon]

religion: the beliefs, attitudes, emotions, behavior, ect constituting man's relationship with powers and principles of the universe..straight from the Funk and Wagnalls dictionary. The laws of physics are powers and principles of the universe but I would hardly call gravity a religion

[dougnshannon]

The difference is that you believe in the supernatural, and I do not.


Still can't find that definition, can you? I'm waiting... Otherwise, you DO practice religion, other than in your own manufactured definition which only has to do with sects of your religion.
Posted by slownewsday2009 at 9:25 AM : Mar 11, 2009
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So you practice the same morals as I yet your standard would not be considered religious and mine are? remember you claimed religions were based on a belief system correct? and your belief system is basically the same as mine correct? I chose to attach God to mine and you don't therefore i'm religious and you are not? your logic is not logical

[dougnshannon]

Once again Webster asserted the term Supernatural, which supernatural by definition can be attributed to anything that can't be explain with common logic. Under that terminology the square root of -1 would be supernatural

[dougnshannon]

Furthermore who is to say Webster was correct in his assertion that religion is the belief in the suprnatural? Certainly Webster DID NOT know all the truths in life, otherwise he would still be alive. With that in mind did he really know anything? Something simple as a rock for instance..we call it a rock because that's what we are told, but is it really a rock? A little philosphy for ya since religions and philosphy go hand in hand.

[dougnshannon]

That is the very definition of religion. Look it up.

Again, you haven't presented a definition from a respectably unbiased source which contradicts what I am saying, nor supports what you are saying.
Posted by slownewsday2009 at 9:15 AM : Mar 11, 2009
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I beleive the sun will rise tomorrow as many people will do as well, but I don't see the "sun-risers" religion. No where in the Bible did God call his paln of salvation a religion..the religion was attached to the Biblet by man not God..

[dougnshannon]

No, not mine. I don't require an external set of instructions.


"would you call gun control which is based on moral issues religion? "

No, I wouldn't, because they do not require a belief in the supernatural.

Still can't find me a definition which would back you up, eh?
Posted by slownewsday2009 at 9:10 AM : Mar 11, 2009
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so what would you say your morals, assuming you have them, are based on? We would both agree that killing is wrong correct? How about stealing? Adultery? Lying? and so on, so these same basic rules of morality most of the world agrees should be adhered to, which is exactly what Jesus's example set...so what's the difference between me and you? You claim you have no religion yet live by the same "standards" as I who chose to except the gift of salvation from Christ..