Not going to become the 3rd largest religious group any time soon.
Posted on 09/17/2012 1:46:45 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
According to Grey Matter Research, Americans think our country is far more religiously diverse than it actually is. In a survey of 747 adults the research and consulting firm found that most underestimated the size of Christianity and over-estimated the size of atheists, Muslims, and other religious minorities.
“The typical American adult pegs religious affiliation in the U.S. as follows: 24% Catholic, 20% Protestant, 19% unaffiliated, 9% Jewish, 9% atheist or agnostic, 7% Muslim, 7% Mormon, and 5% from all other religious groups. In reality, according to the 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Americans are right on target with the proportion of Catholics and the “all other” category, but way off target on the rest of the landscape. The typical American badly underestimates how many Protestants there are in the country, and way overestimates the presence of religious minorities such as Mormon, Muslim, and atheist/agnostic.”
In fact, if you check the Pew Forum data from 2008, you’ll see that Muslims in America only comprise 0.6% of the population. In contrast “Unitarians and other liberal faiths” comprise 0.7% and “New Age” faiths (ie Pagans) comprise around 0.4%. There are more Buddhists in the United States than there are Muslims. Likewise, respondents guessed large for atheists, agnostics, and the unaffiliated. Speaking with the Religion News Service, Grey Matter president Ron Sellers noted that media attention is a likely reason for the over-inflated guesses of non-Christian or non-religious populations.
Sellers also mentioned that with Mitt Romney running for president as a Mormon and the current emphasis on Islamic-American relations, “smaller faith groups also may be getting disproportionate media coverage.”
Likewise, younger Americans, who tend to have more friends who are atheists or religiously unaffiliated, guesses in favor of their own experience. Also unsurprising is the news that adherents of a particular tradition tend to guess high on their own numbers.
Not going to become the 3rd largest religious group any time soon.
“One thing that is clear from this research is that people tend to overestimate the proportion of their own faith group. Among people who identify with the Catholic Church, the average estimate is that 39% of the country is Catholic. Not only is this estimate much higher than it is among non-Catholics, it is far higher than the reality of 24%. Similarly, among people who identify with a Protestant faith perspective, the average estimate is that 27% of the population is Protestant. While this is far higher than the numbers among non-Protestants, it is still almost half the correct figure. Among people who identify as atheists or agnostics, the average estimate is that 16% of the American population is atheist or agnostic. As with Catholics, not only is this estimate far higher than among any other group, but it is much higher than the reality. Finally, among people who express no particular faith identification, the average perception is that 35% of Americans believe in God but have no actual religious preference. Again, this is nearly double the average American’s perception, and far higher than the real figure in the U.S.”
So what’s the take-home message of this data? Sellers says that “this skewed perception of religion in America may benefit smaller faith groups and be detrimental to Protestants.” In other words we are over-estimating the influence of religious minorities, and under-estimating the influence of Protestant Christians. This may seem like a good thing, a hastening of the demographic shifts many of us existing in religious minorities have been waiting for, but it could also feed into the fears of certain Christians who are increasingly uneasy with our mere existence. Then again, maybe feeling like a religious minority could teach a valuable lesson to those willing to encounter it.
Being a minority tests the temper of a faith, its resilience and fiber [...] Being a member of a minority entails the ability to bend and to negotiate. This, in turn, demands a deep understanding of the majority and local conditions, deeper than the majority may have about the minority; respect for them whenever possible; diplomacy; patience; and the building of relationships, infinitesimal gesture after infinitesimal gesture.”
People are over-estimating religious minorities, and those with no religion at all, but maybe this misconception will instill a willingness to embrace secularism once more, to re-enforce those church-state separations so that the “others” don’t exert undue influence. In which case, beware Christians, Pagans are growing at an alarming rate! Quick! Everyone join Americans United for The Separation of Church and State, it’s your only hope!
“One thing that is clear from this research is that people tend to overestimate the proportion of their own faith group. Among people who identify with the Catholic Church, the average estimate is that 39% of the country is Catholic. Not only is this estimate much higher than it is among non-Catholics, it is far higher than the reality of 24%. Similarly, among people who identify with a Protestant faith perspective, the average estimate is that 27% of the population is Protestant. While this is far higher than the numbers among non-Protestants, it is still almost half the correct figure. Among people who identify as atheists or agnostics, the average estimate is that 16% of the American population is atheist or agnostic. As with Catholics, not only is this estimate far higher than among any other group, but it is much higher than the reality. Finally, among people who express no particular faith identification, the average perception is that 35% of Americans believe in God but have no actual religious preference. Again, this is nearly double the average American’s perception, and far higher than the real figure in the U.S.”
Per the charts in the article, the correct percentage of Evangelical Protestants in the USA is 26.3%, and the number of Mainline Protestants in the USA is 18.1%.
television.... how many identifiable Christians do you see in prime time as central characters? or in the movies?
What?!? So now, “Historically Black” is a religion in the United States.
I think the number of actual Christians regardless of which church they are affiliated with is much much lower than what is reported.
If that were true this country would not be governed by satanic socialists.
>>What?!? So now, “Historically Black” is a religion in the United States.
Sure. Why not? They claim that “women” are a minority.
The numbers that stun me are the mormon, orthodox, and jewish numbers. I thought those 3 religions were far larger than that.
Is it just me or do they seem to be trying to downplay the number of Protestants and total Christians? If you add together the Evangelical, Mainline, and Black Protestant churches, you get a figure of over 50%. That added to the Catholic number puts us at over 75% Christian, not including Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons. I would guess that a fair percentage of the “Unaffiliated” are actually Christians without a current church home, for whatever reason.
What kind of reaction would we get if on the front page of the NY Times the headline read, “Christians make up over 80% of the US population.”?
I think some liberal heads would explode.
add in mormon, jehovah’s witnesses, unaffiliated(unaffiliated means non-denominational christians I think), and orthodox...and you get about 95% of americans are christian.
Holy Crap
I agree with you. Any group, or member, that claims otherwise needs to prove it by casting those votes.
I would love to see an action movie where a badass Steven Seagal type character, has several scenes seeking guidance and strength in prayer, expresses humility, shows respect, and uses his tremendous skill with restraint, offering mercy to the misguided but giving no quarter and showing overwhelming power both in body and soul in the last fight against the truly satanic antagonist.
There has to be beautiful women in the movie. One of them could be a truly formidable female martial artist, who was working for the bad guys in the beginning, but ends up being on his side and trying to understand a complicated man and his faith.
And then afterwards he is shown withdrawing to an isolated place of contemplation where he kneels before his God and asks did I do right...did I misuse Your gift...heal me Lord of my anger and my pride. And finding peace.
End scene with him and his lady warrior friend sitting on the sand on the beach in Tonga, watching the sunset, finally able to just be a man and a woman together...with the impression that everything around them is beautiful but somehow evil lurks just over the horizon waiting it’s opportunity.
If that were the case, then Christians are to blame for the mess the country is in.
Point made. Point taken.
Just damn...
Obviously they ARE the problem. We, the 80% put Obama in the WH. Can ya’ believe it?
Actually it is a fairly common scene to see the hero as a Catholic who has drifted away from his church, yet seeks solace, or comfort, or advice, even confession and prayer by going to the Catholic church and interacting with priests.
What you don’t see, is a hero who is in any way, affiliated with our second largest denomination, the Southern Baptists, or any of the hated, republican voting Evangelicals.
In other words, the USA is becoming more and more a new field for Christian missionary work by Christians from other countries, including Roman Catholics.
I agree with you. Any group, or member, that claims otherwise needs to prove it by casting those votes.
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