HIGHER POWERS TAKE A BEATING …
|| By FITSNEWS || The United States is still an overwhelmingly “Christian” nation, although it is becoming decidedly less so … and fast.
In the last seven years alone, the share of the U.S. adult population identifying as Christian has fallen from 78.4 percent to 70.6 percent – according to new data from the Pew Research Center. At the same time, the percentage of those not identifying with any religion jumped from 16.1 percent to 22.8 percent.
“These changes are taking place across the religious landscape, affecting all regions of the country and many demographic groups,” the researchers noted.
Within the broader decline in Christianity are specific drop-offs among those who identify as protestants (from 51.3 percent to 46.5 percent) and Catholics (from 23.9 percent to 20.8 percent). And within the specific decline in protestants, evangelicals saw their percentage of the adult population dip modestly from 26.3 percent to 25.4 percent while “mainline” protestants – which include many of the more liberal Christian denominations – saw their ranks plummet from 18.1 to 14.7 percent.
Evangelical protestants actually expanded their numbers by two million worshippers – while mainline denominations lost an estimated five million worshippers.
“The drop in the Christian share of the population has been driven mainly by declines among mainline Protestants and Catholics,” the researchers noted.
Also of interest? Those who identified as adherents to the Jewish faith saw an uptick (from 1.7 to 1.9 percent), as did Muslims (0.5 to 0.9 percent) and Hindus (0.4 to 0.7) percent. Buddhists hung tight at 0.7 percent.
Interesting stuff …
And yes, we think the musical accompaniment for this story should be obvious …
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For those of you keeping score at home, the Pew Center’s study – which followed up on its 2007 report – surveyed 35,071 American adults using both cellphones and landlines between June 4 and Sept. 30, 2014. Its margin of error is plus or minus 0.6 percent.
60 comments
Can’t figure out why people are leaving the church in droves.
Jackson, Sharpton, Wright, et al, have nothing to do with this?
0.9% are Muslim.2% are gay according to Gallup.
If you read the MSM or even Fits and watch television you would believe we have become Iran (Christians the minority) and 70% are gay with Christianity soon to be criminalized.
Iran? That’s a bit of a stretch. The “religious” make up of America was always destined to change just from the simple fact that we’re tolerant of all religions. In 1650 we were mainly Puritian and Protestant. By 1900 we were quite a bit Catholic (thanks Germans, French, Italians, Irish) and by 1950s we started seeing a lot of Greek Orthodox. The last 50 years we’ve considerable influx from Muslim areas, Asia and India. The real question is – who cares. A persons religion is a personal thing. It isn’t anyone elses business, more or less. Unless of course a person is inclined to dislike anyone different then themselves.
Correct as always.I know when I’m wrong.
Yes, we all do, 100% of the time.
The EBT card has zero balance.Please meet me at Food Lion.
You are not the REAL ‘fc’.He is much smarter than I am and a fraud like you.
I’m not smart, one time I got locked inside my own car and had to call the blacksmith to get me out.
It worked folks.Talk about stupid.
Worked? Not me, me and GrandTango just sit around his trailer playing Xbox all day. I better ask him if his mom finished the pizza rolls yet.
locksmith
Could happen. For “progressives”, gays and Muslims are much easier to control. Illegals, too.
If I sat down in a church and saw you sitting next to me I’d convert to whatever church in town was most far away from you.
bullshit. the country hasn’t been 70% christian since plymouth rock. 70% ‘identify’ as christian in the same way that hillbilly morons in lexington county ‘identify’ as republican; they haven’t got a clue what it means, only that’s what their daddy and all the other pick up drivers say they should be.
Agree!
Plymoth Rock was a myth, btw.
Doesn’t even exist, and never did.
Yep, just like God….
“(H)illbilly morons in lexington county?” Rednecks or goobers, but not hillbillies.
Take politics out of the pulpit and Religion will have a resurgence.
I hear that all the time. If you listen to the media, politics is all you hear from the pulpit. I have been a Baptist all my life and never heard politics or political endorsements from the pulpit or the pastor in the church. Never heard discussion of particular legislation, elected officials or political candidates.
You should visit the nearest AME church!
Of course they don’t have to offer specific endorsements, they just have to focus more on gays and abortion and less on helping the poor to bend the gullible congregation into voting the “right” way. Republicans just pander to those hot button issues and leave what would be actual Christian values to the curb and reap in the votes.
If you come across someone who is in dire need of help, don’t carry them to the next village and pay for someone to watch after them, instead give them a lecture on how abortion and gay marriage caused him his problems and bootstraps will get him out of it.
“gullible congregation” ?
They can think for themselves, and do. Not like the “you can keep doctor and insurance if you want” and “read the bill after it’s passed” crowd.
“pay for someone to watch after them, instead give them a lecture” not on gays or abortion though.
I was raised next door to a preacher. He always had ne’r-do-wells passing through town showing up at his door for a hand out. If they were able bodied he would give them paint and a brush to paint the back of his garage (no one would ever see it). After they finished painting (if they would), the pastor would invite the oldest most long winded parishioner over to give them a lecture and only then pay them what they needed for food, lodging, auto repair etc.. He didn’t have any repeaters.
God helps those who help themselves. Matthew 25:31-46 New American Conservative version.
No one hates someone for their beliefs, many of us detest those beliefs being pushed on us and an excuse to hate those who believe differently, does not matter what color, religion, or cult.
As a child asked, “how was the universe created?” The father says, “some believe….” and goes into detail how the universe was created and how the planets came to be formed. The mother chimed in, “yes, and some believe Santa created it.”
The child laughs, and says, “I’m going with what Dad said, it makes more sense.”
You notice the child asked “how was the universe created?” The kid asked the right question.
And the kid rightly believed in Science v. some fairy tale legend that has been passed down for centuries. Facts must be proven, not faith based.
Creation (verb) presupposes a creator. I have no argument with science and many scientists believe in God and don’t use the Bible as a science text. Neither do I.
A verb without object, aka creator. We all have our own beliefs on who the creator is or is not.
95% of the universe is dark matter or energy that your best scientists know very little, if anything about.
Dark matter was proposed as a theory before there was any physical evidence to support it. Not all science is based on facts.
Not all Science is, it starts as a hypothesis, then moves to a theory and if it makes it beyond that, becomes a fact.
Stephen Hawkins also set out to answer the problems of the universe based on mathematical facts. Intriguing, thoughtful, but not a fact yet.
Addition to earlier comment, not only who, but what?
Only in the last few years has Steven Hawking definitively stated that he is an atheist.
I believed he was an Atheist when I read his works. No Christian would openly admit that God was not required to create the universe.
It does not invalidate his views based on science, nor another’s view that is validate by the majority based on faith.
In the end. We all die. One belief is that we move on to a very limited and competitive eternal life or burn in hell for eternity. On the opposite extreme, we are part of the universe and will be absorbed into that same ecosystem that has served us so well.
The choice is ours to make. What we choose to believe and how we live our life. The consequences of those decisions are also ours to bear.
Does not matter if science or biblical. The end result is the same in some sense. We have choices to make, and how we make those choices, can impact the rest of our life.
I have never thought that education or intelligence was an advantage in developing a relationship with or faith in God. This belief of mine if true would make up for some of the inequities of life.
I have always believed that education is a driving factor in success, lack thereof = inequities.
If there is a god, then I believe he gave us enough sense to follow our conscious. To develop those desires. To hunt, gather, find. Happiness.
Who or what god is? A mystery that we will not know in this lifetime unless Science can prove. Unlikely it will happen in mine. Accident? Karma? Nature?
Simple truth is. We don’t know. We won’t until we die.
Life is a gift of something, or a curse? Depending on what you have to work with.
Is guilt manmade? What country?
These are the important questions we ask ourselves. Who is god? How can I use god? He could help me make money, if I bargained hard enough? He could heal me, if I promised him my whole life? He could take away all my pain, if only I prayed enough?
The Higgs Bosen particle was proposed before it was discovered based on mathematics.
Take religion out of foreign policy and the nation will have a resurgence
Hitler, Stalin and Mao tried to take religion out of politics and they were successful too.
So you would be fine with, say, making Sharia Law applicable in the US? Or is it just YOUR religion that everyone else has to obey?
1. If there is no distinction in the way Chistians and non Christians live their lives, then Christianity is meaningless. That is why mainline liberal churches are in decline. They don’t try to reform society, but conform to it.
2. The structure of church worship is out of date. I can hardly bare to sit in a pew for an hour with my “media devise” turned off. It must be torture for teen and twenty somethings.
3. We use to be able to join together in groups on Sunday that shared common values. Now there seems to be 150 different views.
4. A lot of singles, non traditional and blended families don’t feel comfortable in many churches. Family considerations are the primary reason for church participation. Take that away and att
5. The impact of the decline of religion on the nation is hard to gauge. When people leave the church, they usually don’t shed the values they were raised with. It’s the completely unchurched generation that follows where you notice the differences. Make it up as you go values. Whatever is convenient at the time. The damage you could do to your own marriage from adultery is a concern, but if you do damage to someone else’s marriage by adultery, that’s there problem. Liz Gunn has even expressed this view. Cheating on ones own spouse is bad, but a single with someone else’s spouse is not bad.
You know there were well-defined codes of ethics and laudable moral standards in many societies long before Christianity or churches?
At some point we decided rebellious children didn’t deserve to be beaten with a rod or stoned to death too.
You secular Christ haters have made it legal just to kill em inside their mother.
just call it a “preemptive strike” and that the uterus has oil in it and republicans would be all over it
And those reforms often came from the religious community.
Yes, predominately the mainline churches.
“They don’t try to reform society, but conform to it.”
If churches were just trying to persuade people to do what they consider as the right thing, there wouldn’t be a problem. It is when churches start pushing for laws to be passed to subjugate non-believers to their religious doctrine that people start having a problem.
Thank You!!!!!!
Laws like.
1. You have to buy health insurance.
2. You can’t buy health insurance with high deductibles or a lifetime limit.
3. Have purchase abortion coverage.
4. Caterers have to serve gay weddings.
“That is why mainline liberal churches are in decline. They don’t try to reform society, but conform to it.”
What a joke from the Baptists who believe each congregation should make their own rules. Who believe the only thing required for salvation is to sit their ass in a pew on Sunday, and go back to counting their money on Monday. The folks who gave us prosperity theology taught by evangelists and mega church preachers who get rich on their flock while telling them god will reward them monetarily for their faith, particularly as evidenced by the size of their donation.
I mean talk about giving in to society. What could be easier than being a Baptist?
Well what can you say of the denomination whose black congregations gave rise to virtually all of the civil rights leaders of the 50s and 60s and whose white congregations welcomed the KKK and preached on the evils of miscegenation.. They are nothing if not diverse.
Mary, you watch too much TV preaching. They are hucksters like Dr. Oz or Dr. Phil or the diet pill frauds that you see in the secular media. Prosperity theology is not of Baptists origin. Most Baptists despise it. “Baptists congregations making there own rules, it’s called liberty. My point about the non churched making up there own rules is refers to the lack of any philosophical or religious underpinnings. There are some whacky Baptists (Westboro Baptist Church), but those are the only ones you, Mary, are ever likely to here about.
Really? Do you honestly think I could grow up in SC and not know about Baptists? My father grew up attending a Baptist Church. My Grandmother was a Baptist till the day she died. Half of my family are Baptists.
The truth is there are a lot of evangelists and mega church preachers who have become rich teaching the gospel. Many have accumulated tens of millions of dollars in personal assets. What could possibly justify that?? How does one become rich teaching the gospel of Christ. Here are just a few who became rich from their ministry. Most would not be considered “hucksters.” I know they are not all Baptists but several are, and there are a lot more.
Joel Osteen
Billy Graham
Kenneth Copeland
Jerry Falwell
Pat Robertson
John Hagee
Franklin Graham
“… go back to counting their money on Monday. The folks who gave us prosperity theology taught by evangelists and mega church preachers who get rich on their flock while telling them god will reward them monetarily for their faith, particularly as evidenced by the size of their donation.”
———————–
You didn’t learn about any of those preacher’s except by TV or radio.
I’ve gone to church all my life and never heard any of these preachers except, Billy Graham mentioned in any church.
Are all doctors frauds because Dr. Oz promotes and profits from unproven cures? Are all psychiatrist fakes because Dr. Phil ambushes people with public interventions by inviting disturbed people on air under false pretenses? Mary, please back away from the TV. It’s distorting your perspective. If what I saw on TV was true, then hot twenty year old girls would be offering to have sex with me everyday. Mary, it doesn’t happen.
Prosperity theology is a very specific thing and I don’t know of any of those listed preaching it. I am only really familiar with two of them, but I am familiar with their names. Prosperity Gospel specifically states that you will be materially rewarded in this life if you give to the church. I’ve never gone to a church that preached that.
Many of them made their money selling books or founding a TV network and not as a pastor of a church. I’m a Republican and it is never a sin to make money at a legitimate business.
First forget the TV crap. I never watch evangelist on TV. As is typical of most so called conservatives, you are constantly trying to belittle those you disagree with, by implying they don’t know what they are talking about.
I personally believe if Christ were to return today, he would treat those who have become rich from their ministry the same as he treated the money changers in the temple.
As for “I am a Republican and its never a sin to make money.” It is a sin to hoard earthly treasure while others starve, lack health care, and lack clothing. Especially for those who profess to be men of god. That is biblical truth. Matthew 25:31-46 Real Christians cannot read those passages and believe otherwise, unless they have been taught that god wants them to be wealthy and secure here on earth; that they are good people and god wants them to have all the material things they have accumulated; even as others starve and die of curable disease.
I cannot fathom how so many denominations, especially those who consider themselves religious conservatives, have managed to completely ignore the most fundamental teachings of Christ on a Christian’s duty to the poor, the sick, and those in need. Scripture leaves no room for misinterpretation on this, yet they pretend it does. Like the rich man who asked Christ how he could become perfect, they look for a way out of the direct and simple answer given. They are willing to take the chance that they will be one of the few camels god pushes through the eye of the needle, because they simply cannot do what Christ asks of them. That is just too much for Christ to expect. So they turn to the “get out of jail free card.” They rely on forgiveness on Sunday morning.
Dear God, I have sinned against you. You were naked and I did not clothe you, you were hungry and I did not feed you, you were sick and I did not comfort you. I needed the money for my new car, my stock portfolio was down, and my beach house needs a new roof. Forgive me. I believe in you. See you next week, same time, same place, same discussion. Amen
1) Christianity is a personal belief and if your belief requires others to endorse it, then I might suggest it is in fact meaningless.
2) It must be torture to watch the preachers, pastors, priest and so on, sit on the bench or perched behind a pew, listening to some young girl or boy pour out their tears, while fidgeting with their crotch.
3) Join all the groups you want, but don’t feel you have the right to infringe on someone else’s beliefs. Your belief end where another’s begin.
4) Family considerations a primary reason for church participation? Only to be told by the church they can’t participate due to some minute detail in difference of opinion?
5) The church is steadily declining, all one needs to do is look around. Some participate as a social club of status, or gathering, but few even attempt to follow the lessons. It’s just the simple truth. Only believers of some said faith are bound by the laws of said faith, unless they conflict with federal and to a lesser degree state laws. Who cheated on who, whether single or married, is between two people and their god or lack thereof.
I agree with most of what you say.
Two side of the coin flip? Guess we met in the air.
Poll: those who “refuse to answer” have increased too. Connection?