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 ...
Yes, and all Christian denominations agree about Mormonism, it isn’t based on my own sense of theology.
The Orthodox, the Protestants, the Catholic church, all are on the same exact page on Mormonism.
Here is the Catholic view: “”Mormons say that Christ came to teach the truth, but that it was lost when the Apostles dispersed. No one had the truth for over 1800 years until God saw fit to enlighten Joseph Smith in 1823 (that is why they baptize all the dead people who missed out). Besides their strange historical mis-accounts, Mormons also have a warped theology.
Mormonism teaches that we are all children of God the Father, and that we were first born in Heaven as spirits. Like all people, these spirits come down to earth to inhabit the bodies of babies just being born, where after they grow, learn, and return to God. During this “compression” into the infant state, the memories of their pre-existence are “veiled.” Even God was once a Man like ourselves who evolved into a god.
By following all the rules and ordinances of God here, Mormon men and women have the potential of also becoming gods (by first becoming a good Mormon, paying a full ten percent tithe to the Mormon church, and follow various laws and ordinances of the church). “As god once was, man is. As God is, man may become” (Joseph Smith’s words). Mormons believe that there are many worlds and many gods. Each god is similar to God the Father, having the same powers and omnipotence, and even being able to create their own worlds. “Heavenly Father” is only the name of the god who rules over this world.””
Not true.
http://www.biblebelievers.com/jmelton/Catholic.html
Okay so I go to a nondenominational church which packs in 700 plus a week. We all consider ourselves evangelical protestants... this article seems like a very foolish characterization of what it means to be a protestant.
Most non-denoms claim to be non-denominational, when you study their basic beliefs you find that the vast majority of them tilt/ lean Baptist. After the brouhaha between the SBC and TBC and some of the bad press of women pastors and homosexual unions many took a step or two back from the label "Baptist" and now either call them selves "Bible" or Non-denom.
I am well aware of that, but as you can see from reply 22 many prots get bent out of shape when you confront them with facts.
For the record I am a revert Catholic. I left for quite a while and then came back after a through study of history.
I agree - I have no idea where the article got "nondenominational Christians who can no longer be categorized as Protestant" ... as I said, I find no support for that in the Pew report.
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