Posted on 07/21/2004 3:53:13 AM PDT by BellStar
For the first time in U.S. history, the number of Protestants soon will slip below 50 percent of the nation's population, according to a new survey.
"As early as this year and certainly, if the projections hold, within the next two years, the majority of American adults will not be Protestants for the first time since the founding of colonial Jamestown," said Tom W. Smith, director of the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey.
"We were always at least a majority Protestant country, and that is about to change."
The survey, which was released Tuesday, has studied various aspects of American life, including its religious dimension, for 32 years.
From 1972 to 1993, it found that Protestants constituted 63 percent of the national population. But the total declined to 52 percent in 2002.
The study mirrors results from a recent Harris County survey. Protestants decreased from 56 percent in 1994 to 34 percent in 2004, according to the Houston Area Survey directed by Stephen Klineberg, a Rice University sociology professor.
One reason for the national decline, Smith said, is a failure to keep youths and young adults within the Protestant fold.
From the '70s through the early '90s, Protestant churches retained 90 percent of young people, but that dropped to 83 percent after 1993, he said.
Another reason: Once-nominal Protestants are more open to stating that they are no longer affiliated with any denomination, he said. In the survey, the number of people saying they had no religion grew from 9 percent in 1993 to 14 percent in 2002.
And, some people who once identified themselves as Protestant now call themselves "Protestant now call themselves "Christian," ," which would put them in the survey's growing "other" category. Latter-day Saints, Muslims and Eastern religions are also in the "other" category, which grew from 3 percent in 1993 to 7 percent in 2002.
In the survey, people were identified as Protestants if they were members of such denominations as Southern Baptist, United Methodist and Episcopal.
Jews represented just under 2 percent of the U.S. population.
The study found that Roman Catholics have stayed at about 25 percent of the population over the three decades. With immigration, Smith said, the percentage of Catholics should remain stable.
The Houston survey reflects the national picture, Klineberg said.
Immigration from Central America, Asia, Africa and other nations have changed the Houston religious landscape from white and Protestant to a diverse mix, he said.
The percentage of Catholics in Harris County grew from 26 percent in 1994 to 34 percent this year.
The number of people claiming other religions increased from 26 percent to 32 percent. The study results do not surprise statisticians who study religious groups.
The Rev. Eileen Lindner, editor of the National Council of Churches' Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, pointed out that even with the decline, Protestants constitute millions of believers. Combined with Roman Catholics, they keep Christianity the predominant religion in the country, she said. She cautioned about certain interpretations from the study, although she had not studied it.
"If you are growing up in a megachurch, you don't have a denominational affiliation," she said. Most megachurches are nondenominational.
Lindner also noted that the boundaries separating Protestant denominations have become blurred, and many people see no reason to affiliate with one particular "brand."
Mainline Protestant denominations have been hemorrhaging members for decades.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has dropped from 4.1 million members in 1960 to 2.5 million. Over the same period, membership in the Episcopal Church decreased from 3.4 million to 2.5 million and United Methodists have seen their numbers drop from 11 million to 8.3 million.
"Regular participation in a church is not as central as it once was, even if you are a believer," said Jack Marcum of the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies.
"It is much more individualized spirituality than it may have been in the past."
The national survey indicates the drop has been sharper in the last decade, but Marcum said he does not know why. Nor is there much hope the decline can be erased.
"I don't see anything that is going to turn this around, certainly not in the short run," Marcum said.
richard.vara@chron.com
"Christianity is the predominant religion in this country" And if you read the survey it is growing.
"Others" break us up we don't!
Another survey designed to cloud the fact that followers of the Christ are the predominant religion.
WE are and we are growing.
Those Celebrating the walk with Christ our Lord and Savior is if you read that dumb chart about 88% or better!
Hmmm!
People who once identified themselves as Protestant now call themselves "Christian,"
"Christianity is the predominant religion in this country" And if you read the survey it is growing.
Absolutely correct
"Others" break us up we don't!
Others(false witnesses) try to divide and conquer. Their thin veil quickly reveals their nefarious agenda
Yeah, it sounds like an artificially narrow definition of Protestant. A lot of Protestant churches don't make a big deal over being, well, Protestant. Bible churches come under that category.
"Their thin veil quickly reveals their nefarious agenda"
And what is their nefarious agenda?
Immigration (legal and ILLEGAL) from Central America, Asia, Africa and other nations have changed the Houston religious landscape from white and Protestant to a diverse mix, he said. Throw the 10 Commandments out with prayer 'in the name of Jesus'......bring on the Mosque prayer calls, Buddahs, Harry Putter, the U.N., British Darwinism (Soviet/Nazi),....Island Polygamy,.....Abortionism,....,ACLU/Hague,.....
along with all of 'their' lawyers and judges in the 'land'....
spiritual terrorism abounds in planned immigration at the expense of local/national historic VESTED INTEREST,....and,.....LOL......'Chads' abound.
/sarcasm
Their thin veil quickly reveals their nefarious agenda"
And what is their nefarious agenda?
If you don't know by now you're in a sorry(smart azz) state of mind. Pick a topic to read, any topic.
Oh, so theirs is kind of a free floating nefarious agenda that can be applied to whatever hobgoblin fits your fancy for the day.
That's it!
"Oh, so theirs is kind of a free floating nefarious agenda that can be applied to whatever hobgoblin fits your fancy for the day."
Later troll
"Later troll"
See ya Newbie.
Well, I would be one of those simply refering to myself as a Christian. Fundamental Christian, if that helps their classification. LOL
My daughter and I were discussing some of the mega-Churches in town, and she had a negative impression of them, but I cautioned her that she had to take what the news people say about Christians with a huge grain of salt-- that they're always trying to make Christians look bad. She was struck by that, and said "that's TRUE!"
More and more people are starting to recognize the anti-Christian agenda for what it is.
" More and more people are starting to recognize the anti-Christian agenda for what it is."
It's hard to miss unless a person is in a coma.
Over at DU, this is the number the are celebrating.
"It's hard to miss unless a person is in a coma."
Well, a lot of people (particularly young people) are still very credulous, and too inclined to believe that the media are unbiased. While they know that such negative characterizations of Christians don't fit anyone they know personally, they still give the benefit of the doubt to the news people. And, since "there is no cause so noble that it won't attract a few fuggheads", they can always find that one dipstick in a multitude of decent Christians and use him to paint us all as evil. It's a "divide and conquer" strategy to balkanize the Christian community.
All this show is that more people do not ally themselves with a particular denomination. It does not take into account the growing number of non-church attending Christians. It does not mean that Christianity is on the wane but that many established churches are.
You've hit the nail on the head. As the clerical leadership of the old line Protestant churches have drifted further and further to the left and have become fixated on secular matters so they have shed more and more of their congregations. The Episcopal Church ( Full disclosure I'm a member) is rapidly declining into irrelevance. Divorce is OK. Homosexual marriage is OK. There is no longer a moral backbone provided by the church for it's regular members. I'm coming to the belief that it's better to belong to one of the evangelical churches except I haven't figured out which one yet.
Ditto!
As for the nefarious agenda, it's the same one. Convert The World.
You're BOTH a couple of newbies! :-)
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