Poll: Protestant majority in U.S. eroding (63% to 52% in last decade)

[RamboLiberal]

The United States will no longer be a majority Protestant nation in years to come, due to a precipitous decline in affiliation with many Protestant churches, a new survey has found.

Between 1993 and 2002, the share of Americans who said they were Protestant dropped from 63 percent to 52 percent, after years of remaining generally stable, according to a study released Tuesday by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

At the same time, the number of people who said they had no religion rose from 9 percent to nearly 14 percent, and many are former Protestants, the survey’s authors said.

<snip>

Among the reasons for the decline were the large number of young people and adults leaving denominations as the number of non-Protestant immigrants increased, comprising a greater share of the population. Also, a lower percentage are being raised Protestant, Smith said.

Smith said it is also possible that some former Protestants are now identifying themselves only as “Christian,” a choice on the survey.

[Spangle]

1. Hey, they wrote an article about me!

* Use to be protestant
* Now just call myself Christian
* Don't raise my kids protestant

I was and still am a religus nut. Loved studing the bible, etc. as a child. The only problem the bible and church didn't always jive. Of course, the leader of the church is hired to preach to the choir. IF they don't like what he says, he is fired. Might be part of the problem. Tee Hee..

I still stayed in the church. It was about bonding with those who at least were Christian and attempting to worship him. But even that ended when politics entered the church. I couldn't stomach that, so I left.

I got a feeling that alot of "protestants" in the survey are only making a connection, not that they actively go to church or anything else. I'm finding alot of christians who no longer attend church.

[Philostopher]

2. Much the same story here,

though I'd be more likely to identify as 'pantheist' or 'agnostic' if they offered those options on a survey, rather than Christian. I think the principles of Christianity are good, but I didn't like the insinuation that if you didn't participate in the groupthink, you weren't really devoted to God.

The church I grew up in eventually drove my late father nuts for the same reasons it did you -- he eventually quit going, too, and like you, read the bible and discussed religious subjects with his family, friends and even ministers from other 'flavors' of Protestantism, but refused to attend the church again.

I really feel great sympathy for those who like the whole paradigm of attending church and bonding with other Christians who feel oppressed by the politics. My mother still goes, but she tells me in private she only goes for the social connections -- she thinks her minister is about as far from a true minister as you can get, sometimes. For me, going it alone isn't a problem -- but I certainly understand why it's a problem for some.

[AndyTiedye]

3. What Were The Choices On The Survey?

Was this one of those ones that expects you to choose either
some version of Christianity or "no religion"?

[oly]

4. Read a story a while back that indicated that the number of

atheists was mid single digits (7%?) and rather constant over a long period. However, a large and growing number of folks (30%?) indicated that religion played a very small part of their lives, but when pinned down considered themselves too be Christian (believed in God, anyway). I guess over time these folks would move toward atheism. What, I wonder about is the number of Fundamentalists. Is that group (I know it's a somewhat nebulous group) growing or are they becoming more vocal as their numbers decrease.

[thinkingwoman]

5. got a link?

I'm fascinated with these statistics...would love to see the source!

Thanks in advance.

[JitterbugPerfume]

7. that would be me

I always checked off "protestant" in the past

now I always check off "no affiliation --other"

Glad I could make a difference <smile>

[Lugnut]

9. Same here.

I'm a recovering Catholic.

[devinsgram]

13. Same here also

After what I have seen organized religion do, no more for me. I have had it with all churches. Evil seems to grow there and hypocrisy just oozes out of them.

[Bill McBlueState]

6. identifying as protestant

Smith said it is also possible that some former Protestants are now identifying themselves only as "Christian"...

There's a good point there: How many people actually identify themselves as "Protestant"? Back in the day when I went to church often, I thought it was an archaic term since we weren't openly protesting Catholicism anymore.

So did people check a box marked "Protestant" or did they pick a denomination, which was then interpreted as Protestant? Either way, people are a lot less likely to identify themselves with the name of a denomination anymore. They're more likely to say mainline, or liberal, or evangelical, or fundamentalist. Even within a single church, representatives of these factions will coexist.

[Merlin]

11. Looks like they picked a denomination

Respondents were defined as Protestant if they said they were members of a Protestant denomination, such as Episcopal Church or Southern Baptist Convention. The category included members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and members of independent Protestant churches.

[RamboLiberal]

8. Whoops - forgot to post the link - Mea Culpa

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5465761/

[Merlin]

10. Te absolvo.

For your penance, say an Our Father and ten Hail Marys. Now make a good Act of Contrition.

[Merlin]

12. Catholics, Jews, Muslims %

The Roman Catholic population has remained relatively stable over the (decade), making up about 25 percent of the U.S. population.

People who said they belonged to other religions — including Islam, Orthodox Christianity or Eastern faiths — increased from 3 percent to 7 percent between 1993 and 2002, while the share of people who said they were Jewish remained stable at just under 2 percent.

[David Zephyr]

14. So The Question Is: Is This The Fault of Jesus or the Protestants?

The collective Protestant community should ask their self-righteous, finger-pointing selves why their version of Jesus has lost appeal.

Is it Jesus or is it the Protestants?

I say it's the Protestants.