Posted on 10/09/2012 3:08:34 AM PDT by markomalley
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...
'Protestant' is a generic term for Christians who are not Catholic. I am sure the folks who came up with the 'No longer a majority' were busy excluding the Holy Rollers from the list.
And now that the Catholic Church has decided to start speaking to the flock in some garbled mixture of Latin and Middle English, look for those numbers to start dropping too.
That is a very subjective decision to make and hints that the whole issue is one of semantics. Many, many (but certainly not all) of the "nondenominational Christians" are the most Protestant congregations out there. In fact many of those churches were formed by orthodox Protestants fleeing their now liberal Mainline denominations for a completely Orthodox, bible based, nondenominational Church. They are congregationalists and from an ecclessiastical standpoint are almost identical to Baptist churches.
ROTFLMAO, that's rich. What are they, New Age dolphin worshipers? Elvis worshipers? UFO worshipers?
Just because they use new buzzwords as part of their marketing campaign doesn't change their basic doctrines, the heresies they prefer, or their intrinsic anti-Catholic teaching.
No matter what they prefer to call themselves they're part and parcel of the same half truths and heresies they absorbed from their Protestant parents. People trying to run away from the fact that they're Protestant is no different than the democrat fascists running away from admitting they're liberal now that everyone knows liberalism is destructive. Neither group has changed a thing they believe or teach, they just want to distance themselves from their own actions since it's getting painfully obvious that they're the cause of the mess this country is in.
Scratch the surface on the relativistic, self-centered, freedom from responsibility, feelgood, doctrines that have taken over Western societies and you find the same basic things Luther taught. Protestants (no matter what they call themselves) teach the doctrine of Self Alone and the worship of your own, Most High and Holy Self.
Here you go, have a slice of nondenominational happiness.
That is a very subjective decision to make and hints that the whole issue is one of semantics. Many, many (but certainly not all) of the "nondenominational Christians" are the most Protestant congregations out there. In fact many of those churches were formed by orthodox Protestants fleeing their now liberal Mainline denominations for a completely Orthodox, bible based, nondenominational Church. They are congregationalists and from an ecclessiastical standpoint are almost identical to Baptist churches.
***America thrived back when Catholics and Protestants were butchering each other by the bushel****
In this day and age one should remember the opening lines from the movie EL CID.
“When men speak of you they speak of poets and scientists!
BURN YOUR BOOKS! Make WARRIORS of your poets! Have your scientists make new poisons for our arrows!
Set Christian king against Christian king! Then when they are weak I will sweep up from Africa!”—Bin Yusef
I’ll bet the Muslim population is growing, because like Catholics they are born into the religion, and a lot of them are born. Catholics not so much anymore, because even though they deny it, most use birth control.
No wonder Christianity is in decline when the hearts of its champions are filled with hatred, contempt and ill will to their fellow Human Beings.
Indeed.
There are actually Independent Presbyterian Churches out there. They hold to the Westminster Confession. I would say they are Protestant in the pure sense of the word. They protested liberal Presbyterianism and at some time broke away. I know of some that have aligned themselves with Conservative Presbyterian denominations.
“Actually Constantine the Great founded what is today the Catholic Church around 325 A.D., or so. Constantine was very pagan oriented too.”
Didn’t he establish the Catholic church as the religion of the Empire?
This is because of public school, it would rip the souls right out of our children if it could...actually it does when teachers take our kids OFF CAMPUS to have abortions...unbelievable
Constantine officially tolerated Christianity through the Edict of Milan in AD 313. In fact, he was not baptized until shortly before his death in AD 337.
Interestingly, one of his successors, Julian, re-asserted paganism as the state religion a few decades later. The Catholic Church did not actually become the state religion of Rome until 380, under Theodosius I.
Typical Protestant jive.
I simply stated facts. Anyone who thinks honesty is an indication of "spiritual shortcomings" has already hardened their heart.
Jesus Christ didn't tone down the Truth, but I guess folks accustomed to the Protestant tradition of going along to get along can't understand how much "bile" Jews of His day thought was in the words of Christ.
I'm sure those who are trying desperately to cling to their worship of Self and pretend it's the same thing as Christianity can't recognize how powerfully the Holy Spirit is working in this country now. Nonetheless, while heresy disguised as Christianity is falling apart and openly denying Christ, the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ Himself is getting stronger every day.
The Holy Spirit is working wonders and removing the scales from the eyes of millions, Catholic and non-Catholic, who surrender their own will, take up their cross, and follow Christ. Naturally, those who worship Self and have hardened their heart are incapable of recognizing what is going on.
have a nice day
Hey Buckeye - what language was the Gutenburg bible printed?
The majority of the non-denominational are Protestant... i.e. orthodox beliefs but not Catholic.
Your claim flies in the face of reality, Protestants built a wonderful, conservative nation, and Catholic immigration has been moving it left ever since they started immigrating in large numbers in the 1840s and 1850s.
Do you not know how Catholics and Protestants vote in America?
I know that all Christian denominations agree on Mormonism as being a different religion from Christianity (non-Christian), and I am pretty sure that they all agree on the Jehovah Witnesses, I believe it is always mentioned alongside Mormonism whenever I look up various denominations statements on Mormonism.
What about Oneness Pentecostals? (and other groups that are not Trinitarian)
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