Posted on 10/09/2012 1:52:04 PM PDT by NYer
NEW YORK – For the first time in its history, the United States does not have a Protestant majority, according to a new study. One reason: The number of Americans with no religious affiliation is on the rise.
The percentage of Protestant adults in the U.S. has reached a low of 48 percent, the first time that Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has reported with certainty that the number has fallen below 50 percent. The drop has long been anticipated and comes at a time when no Protestants are on the U.S. Supreme Court and the Republicans have their first presidential ticket with no Protestant nominees.
Among the reasons for the change are the growth in nondenominational Christians who can no longer be categorized as Protestant, and a spike in the number of American adults who say they have no religion. The Pew study, released Tuesday, found that about 20 percent of Americans say they have no religious affiliation, an increase from 15 percent in the last five years.
Scholars have long debated whether people who say they no longer belong to a religious group should be considered secular. While the category as defined by Pew researchers includes atheists, it also encompasses majorities of people who say they believe in God, and a notable minority who pray daily or consider themselves "spiritual" but not "religious." Still, Pew found overall that most of the unaffiliated aren't actively seeking another religious home, indicating that their ties with organized religion are permanently broken.
Growth among those with no religion has been a major preoccupation of American faith leaders who worry that the United States, a highly religious country, would go the way of Western Europe, where church attendance has plummeted.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Catholic Ping
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I could be wrong but I beleive that we Catholics still make up the largest single “denomination.”
Of course you do, especially with the growing Latino population, although it should be noted that less Catholics are practicing nowadays. Look at how many vote Dem.
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world’s largest Christian church, with more than one billion members worldwide. It is among the oldest institutions in the world and has played a prominent role in the history of Western civilization.
With more than 77.7 million registered members, it is the largest single religious denomination in the United States, comprising 25 percent of the population. The United States has the third largest Catholic population in the world, after Brazil and Mexico.
-—wiki
Catholics have a support network for illegals in the US.
Look at the demographics, Southern Baptsts are also targeting Latinos. There are free English classes at a church near me.
Huh, this study claims "nondenominational" equals "non-Christian?"
How absurd, nondenominational merely means non-denominational Christians not being Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopal, Baptist, Assembly of God or Catholic, etc.
This is nonsense at its highest. Have these people a grasp of the English language. Non-denominational is simply that, it doesn't take one out of the category of Christian as opposed to Jew or Muslim.
I think that whomever put this poll together is trying to justify Obama's claim that "America is no longer a Christian nation!"
This article really surprises me. Our SBC churches here are having major building campaigns to add new buildings, flat screen TV’s, simulcast broadcasting of sermons to satellite churches, and lots and lots of programs, not to mention the gymnasium’s and ice cream socials! You mean....the programs and all of this are NOT working!???
</sarchasm>
Maybe, just maybe, one should get back to preaching Jesus Christ, instead of hey...we have a great church and children’s program.
(Lord, forgive me, please, for my attitude!) ;)
Huh, this study claims "nondenominational" equals "non-Christian?"
No, the article says "Protestant" not "Christian."
(And I can find no support for the article's statement in the original report: http://www.pewforum.org/uploadedFiles/Topics/Religious_Affiliation/Unaffiliated/NonesOnTheRise-full.pdf.)
Intended to be writing "protestant" in stead of "Christian," as I know scads of "non-denomination folk" whom definitely believe themselves to be "protestant" just not equating themselves along with a specific denomination!
These believers could in no way qualify themselves as Catholic but merely not choosing a specific Protestant denomination with which to align themselves. Many attend the "Evangelical Free" church and even Church of the Nazarene, others coming out of main line Protestant congregations. They definitely not Mormons, who do not claim the protestant label.
Mormons are not Christians, it is it’s own, unique non-Christian, (actually anti-Christian) religion, it is not involved in discussions among Christians.
But if 51% of Americans considered themselves Protestant -- of whatever sort -- in 2008, and the percentage of agnostics and atheists each increased by about 1% and the percentage of Don't Knows and Nothing in Particulars taken together increased by two percent since then it's possible that a minority of Americans are Protestant nowadays.
I don't know what churches or faiths are Christian but not Protestant (or Catholic). Orthodox? Jehovah's Witnesses? Adventists? Pentacostalists? Reconstructionists? And -- in the spirit of open debate -- Mormons?
Matthew 18:20
King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
That makes it PERFECTLY clear to me.
LLS
This “study” is crap. Another ‘advocacy journalism’ strategy to divide and conquer Christians of differing denominations.
BINGO!
LLS
BINGO!
LLS
I am glad you qualified with quotation marks. Technically, the Catholic is not a denomination as it is the original church.
They are orthodox in belief but not Catholic...they are Protestant.
...but still a massive majority in heaven.
While Mormon teachings and past statements by not only their founder but other LDS Presidents, so I don't consider them Christans and they, themselves, claim they are Restorationists and yes, other sects such as Jehovah's Witnesses and others are also not only not Protestants but not Christians as well.
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