And 99% of the people were Christians.
Don't ask me for the source. It is a fact.
I wonder was has happened, and continues to happen, since then. Could immigration laws have played a part in our changing demographics? YES! Could our problems be related to to this seminal change? YOU BET!
There is much confusion in this post and the one which engendered it way back where.
Although 99% of the colonists came from Christian countries, they were not 99% churched -- that is actually members of churches. The proportion of the unchurched in colonial America was greater than it is today.
A reference to established churches in colonial America and indeed into the 19th century, refers to STATE established, offical churches in certain colonies, especially New England where the Congregational Church was established and state supported by mandatory taxes.
Thanks for the correction.
But one needs not be a member of a church in order to consider himsel/herself a Christian.
As an example, I belong to two Catholic organizations, yet am not a member of any church. I was an altar boy and take part in Catholic fundraisings, support the Holy See and its prelate, yet I'm not currently a formal member of a church. Still, when I filled out our 2000 Census, I describe myself as a Christian. So, in our census numbers it matters not whether one is an active member of a church in order to qualify as a Christian.
The same applies here to our early colonists. And that is, although most people were not members of a church, their offical religion, their traditions, their country of origin, their ceremony and their culture was Christian-based. Religion gives rise to culture and these early people's culture was clearly Christian.