Organized religion sees numbers fall

[Arugula Latte]

Christians in America: Organized religion sees numbers fall fewer in pews
Published: Saturday, August 14, 2010, 2:00 PM Updated: Saturday, August 14, 2010, 2:12 PM
By WILLIAM LOBDELL

Novelist Anne Rice's surprise post on Facebook -- she announced in late July that she had quit Christianity "in the name of Christ" because she'd seen too much hypocrisy -- brought cheers and smug smiles from critics of institutional faith, and criticism and soul-searching among believers.

But there's something more at play here than one of America's most famous Catholics -- Rice re-embraced the faith of her youth in 1998 and published a memoir two years ago, "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession" -- walking away from the church.

Rice is merely one of millions of Americans who have opted out of organized religion in recent years, making the unaffiliated category of faith the fastest-growing "religion" in America, according to a 2008 study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

The Pew report found that one in six American adults was not affiliated with any particular faith. That number jumped to 25 percent for people ages 18 to 29. Moreover, most mainline Protestant denominations have for years experienced a net loss in members, and about 25 percent of cradle Catholics have left their childhood faith, the study showed.
.......

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/08/christians_in_america_organize.html

Have to say, I love that younger generation. They're liberal, pro-gay, and less religious. There is hope!

[meowomon]

1. The United Church of Christ is an open and affirming church

You don't even have to believe that Jesus died for your sins to be a member. You just have to affirm your belief in God.

[Arugula Latte]

3. Well, I wouldn't qualify (no belief in a deity) but I'm sure it's a good fit for many.

:)

[SPedigrees]

10. Universalist/unitarian is a more inclusive choice.

They welcome atheists, agnostics, as well as believers in god, defined however an individual sees fit. If I were to ever join a church, U/U would be my choice.

[madrchsod]

2. i`m 62 and i quit going to church when i was 15

yet i consider myself a believer in christ`s message. none of my three children have ever been affiliated with a church.

[madmax]

6. I could have written your post.

Except for 3 children, I only had one. :)

[DeSwiss]

4. K&R

(http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-03-09-ARIS-faith-survey_N.htm">link)

:) - I love them young 'un's too!

on edit: add link

[dimbear]

16. Evidently the strongest statistical predictor of disassociation with religion

is the presence of winter.

[DeSwiss]

17. Hmmm, I don't think I saw the church-attendance by seasons graph.

:) - Link, please!!!

[dimbear]

19. Sorry, didn't make myself clear enough, perhaps.

The states which have really serious winters seem to lead the list.

[DeSwiss]

24. No, I understood.....

...but sarcasm is my middle name! (not the one my parents give me, I gave it to myself)

:) - Welcome to DU!

[CoffeeCat]

5. Wow, 25 percent raised Catholic have left...

...the faith.

That is staggering. No wonder so much has changed with the catholic church. I returned
to the catholic church that I attended as a child. The pews were always filled to the brim.
Many times we had to stand.

This was ten years ago, but I remember saying, "Oh my gosh..where is everyone?" The pews
weren't even filled 50 percent.

[SPedigrees]

11. Media spotlight on this good ole boys' club of pedophilia

probably had much to do with this trend.

[CoffeeCat]

12. It's nice to know that people...

...have left because of the pedophile scandal--which, in my opinion, is totally unforgivable. The
major decrease in church membership is a good sign that people are not willing to support a church
that has behaved in this way.

I think the church has lost a lot of really great people to the pedophile scandal.

[LiberalFighter]

7. There is nothing the churchs or the right wing can do to destroy public education.

That will prevent the younger generation from realizing the truth about religion. As time goes on there will be more and more revealed about religion(s) that will turn them away.

[LiberalFighter]

8. Pollsters...

Pollsters -- most notably evangelical George Barna -- have reported repeatedly that they can find little measurable difference between the moral behavior of churchgoers and the rest of American society. Barna has found that born-again Christians are more likely to divorce (an act strongly condemned by Jesus) than atheists and agnostics, and are more likely to be racist than other Americans.

And while evangelical adolescents overwhelmingly say they believe in abstaining from premarital sex, they are more likely to be sexually active -- and at an earlier age -- than peers who are mainline Protestants, Mormons or Jews, said University of Texas researcher Mark Regnerus.

[IntravenousDemilo]

13. My theory of why born-agains are more likely to divorce:

Because the fundie girls get knocked up as teenagers since they're not allowed to use birth control and are also forced to keep the baby, and then get married at a very young age, too young to marry, really. Then they realize later on that they made a hideous mistake and get divorced.

Atheists and agnostics probably don't give birth until later in life because they have access to birth control and tend to be more pro-choice. When they do marry, they marry for the right reasons and not because they have to, and they're mature enough to handle the responsibilities of marriage. So they don't get divorced as much.

I'll bet fundie girls also have more illegitimate children as well, though I haven't seen any stats.

[MadMaddie]

18. I think that it would be interesting to see the abortion rate of

the populations that you are talking about. we probably wouldn't get the truth from the fundi girls.

[DonCoquixote]

9. Sorry to say

I approve of this. The less Religion there is, the more people will be like the classic image of "God/Gaia/whatever"

[ironbark]

14. "At the dawn of the 20th Century......

....approximately one half of the world's population identified itself as
either Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Hindu or Buddhist,
and 100 years of secularism, and technological
advancement, and scientific progress later, that
number is now two thirds.
So for those of you who enjoy beginning coffee shop
conversations with "The Death of God" .. it's time
to change the subject!"
Dr Reza Aslan,
Assistant Professor of Islamic and Middle East Studies
"Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism
in a Globalized Age"

[LAGC]

20. I think that has to do with the assimilation of inferior religions.

With the advent of the television, the mainsteam religions in the more developed countries have been able to broadcast their views to all the remote parts of earth that formerly believed in all the "inferior" religions that aren't in that list of 5 that you posted. You make it sound like half the world was atheist/agnostic at the start of the 20th century, which was not the case. There were many other minor religious beliefs that co-existed along-side the major ones, those are where most of the converts came from. But I think its safe to say the number of atheists/agnostics has been steadily increasing (albeit very slowly) ever since the Enlightenment. I'd be very interested to see what the numbers look like 50 years from now, assuming I'm still alive.

[Kolesar]

22. Because the Muslims, Catholics, and Protestants killed the Pagans, Aztecs, Zulu, Wyandot, and Jews

...who were in the path of colonialism.

[dimbear]

23. This data point should be encouraging:

All the growth accrues to the Muslims. Buddhism declines, Hinduism is stagnant growthwise, Christianity declines.


http://www.prolades.com/worldrel.pdf

[ixion]

15. As a long-time critic of instutionalized religion and education

I must say that I'm happy to see people telling xian mafia to talk-to-the-hand.

[K8-EEE]

21. Good! Hope for the future

I'm also a happy ex-Catholic. Defund the organized religion -- they almost always are in cahoots with the dark side, politically...