Christians Decline Sharply as Share of Population; Unaffiliated and Other Faiths Continue to Grow

[Campbell]

America’s Changing Religious Landscape

 

[ScienceRocks]

I am starting to wonder how the republicans are going to win the white house.
-Religion is down
-Whites are down
-HIspanics are up
-Asians are up

They'll have to get at least 63% of the white vote and that isn't likely running on a loserterian ticket.

 

[waltky]

Survey Finds Drop In Faith In Both Political Parties...

US Becoming Less Religious Says Pew Study
November 3, 2015 - A newly-released poll on Americans’ religious beliefs shows a modest shift downward in the number of adults who believe in God, pray daily and regularly go to church. The 2014 Religious Landscape Study, released Tuesday by The Pew Research Center, found that the percentage of Americans who say they are “absolutely certain” God exists fell from 71 percent in 2007 to 63 percent in 2014.

Despite the declines, Pew said there is a “great deal of stability in the U.S. religious landscape,” saying that for those who claim a religion, there was no “discernable drop” in their commitment to the religion. And the belief in God remains strong compared to other advanced industrial countries, Pew said. The study found, for example, that 77 percent of adults said they were affiliated with a religion, down from 83 percent in 2007. Furthermore, those who said they believe in God remained at 89 percent compared to 92 percent in 2007 when the last survey was done.

People from different faiths pray during an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Tennessee shooting, at Olivet Baptist church in Chattanooga, Tennessee​

Additionally, 60 percent of those surveyed believe the Bible or other holy books are the word of God, with 31 percent saying those books should be interpreted literally. “People who say they have a religion — which is still the vast majority of the population — show no discernible dip in levels of observance,” said Alan Cooperman, director of religion research at Pew. “They report attending religious services as often as they did a few years ago. They pray as often as they did before, and they are just as likely to say that religion plays a very important role in their lives,” he added. “On some measures there are even small increases in their levels of religious practice.”

Pew said that decreases in religious beliefs were likely a result of a growing number of “Millennials” -- young people born between the early 1980s and early 2000s -- who say they don’t belong to an organized religion, and older, more religious Americans dying off. So-called “nones,” those who don’t belong to a religion, make up 23 percent of the adult population compared to 16 percent in 2007. Still, 61 percent of “nones” said they believed in God. One barometer that moved considerably was same-sex marriage, with 54 percent of Christians saying homosexuality should be accepted by society, up from 44 percent in 2007. On evolution, still a point of contention among some Americans, 62 percent of Americans say humans evolved over time, with 34 percent saying they did not believe in evolution.

US Becoming Less Religious Says Pew Study

See also:

Purging Christianity to Please Muslims: German Schools Nix Christian Festival
Tuesday, 03 November 2015 - One critic calls it the “Islamic conquest of the West.” Others say it’s a sign of a collapsing West. But on the heels of a story about European churches removing crosses to accommodate Muslim migrants comes another in the same vein: Some German primary schools and daycare centers are renaming a traditional Christian festival to avoid “offending” Islamic newcomers.

This latest victim of political correctness is St. Martin’s Day, also known as the Feast of St. Martin. Held on November 11 after the harvest, it’s a traditional autumn event on the Christian calendar. But just as how American school calendars long ago renamed the Christmas and Easter breaks, respectively, “winter” and “spring” breaks, secular forces in Germany see fit to further de-Christianize their nation. And the new committee-worthy name they’ve chosen for the feast day is the “Festival of Lights.” Reports Breitbart: The Acting Headmistress of Salesian Montessori Community School in Oberkassel, Nanette Weidelt, told the Rheinische Post that the new name had been adopted, “in order to facilitate integration”. … The head of the German Red Cross in Gerresheim said her institution had also made the change: “We have deliberately chosen [the new name] because we want the meaning of integration and unity to reach as many children as possible, and because more people will participate in our procession”.

WND.com added to the picture, writing, “On top of that, numerous Dusseldorf daycare centers have outright abolished the celebration altogether, due to ‘consideration for the refugees,’ Infowars reported, citing the Epoch Times.” On the other hand, Breitbart tells us that schools such as Sun Road primary in Dusseldorf and Urban Street School in Kita Velberter, Oberbilk, are maintaining the tradition (for now). Not surprisingly, though, the movement to rename St. Martin’s Day is nothing new. As this Epoch Times article points out (text put through Google translate and edited for grammar and style), “The leftist politician Rüdiger Sagel struck two years ago [and said] … the festival should be renamed ‘Sun, Moon and Stars’…. Such changes should be made because there are different religions, in particular a high proportion of Muslim children, in day care centers. ‘You should not impose the Christian tradition,’ Sagel said at the time.”

Yet while some blame only Muslims and others only leftists, the West’s problems are systemic; they wouldn’t be happening were it not for, as British statesman Edmund Burke would have said, the “good men [who] do nothing.” As the Wall Street Journal’s Bret Stephens put it recently: Europe is reaching its end not because of its sclerotic economy, or stagnant demography, or the dysfunctions of the superstate. Nor is the real cause the massive influx of Middle Eastern and African migrants. Those desperate people are just the latest stiff breeze against the timber of a desiccated civilization. Europe is dying because it has become morally incompetent. It isn’t that Europe stands for nothing. It’s that it stands for shallow things, shallowly. Europeans believe in human rights, tolerance, openness, peace, progress, the environment, pleasure. These beliefs are all very nice, but they are also secondary.

MORE

 

[zaangalewa]

America’s Changing Religious Landscape

I don't understand why in the english speaking world the expression "agnostic" (='I don't know') and "Christian" (='I believe') are in the opposit. That's nonsense. I don't think I'm Schroedingers cat only because I'm an agnostic who believes in god.

By the way: Everywhere in the world the "whites" are dying out. I guess the beliefes in atheism, capitalism, darwinism and a growing loveless egocentralized slaveholder mentality - also in pseudosocialistic/communistic societies - has to do with this effect. If materialism wins and spirituality dies then maybe all human beings will not be able to survive any longer. Could be first dies the spirit then dies the world.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

I am starting to wonder how the republicans are going to win the white house.
-Religion is down
-Whites are down
-HIspanics are up
-Asians are up

They'll have to get at least 63% of the white vote and that isn't likely running on a loserterian ticket.

Not optimistic about GOP chances for 2016. Once Bernie drops out, as he will, all those votes will go to Clinton. Whereas there's still no presumptive nominee on the GOP side and they're still doing their thing running around like chickens with their heads chopped off.

If the GOP's to win they need to pick a guy now and focus their attacks on Clinton instead of one another.

 

[zaangalewa]

Survey Finds Drop In Faith In Both Political Parties...

US Becoming Less Religious Says Pew Study
November 3, 2015 - A newly-released poll on Americans’ religious beliefs shows a modest shift downward in the number of adults who believe in God, pray daily and regularly go to church. The 2014 Religious Landscape Study, released Tuesday by The Pew Research Center, found that the percentage of Americans who say they are “absolutely certain” God exists fell from 71 percent in 2007 to 63 percent in 2014.

Despite the declines, Pew said there is a “great deal of stability in the U.S. religious landscape,” saying that for those who claim a religion, there was no “discernable drop” in their commitment to the religion. And the belief in God remains strong compared to other advanced industrial countries, Pew said. The study found, for example, that 77 percent of adults said they were affiliated with a religion, down from 83 percent in 2007. Furthermore, those who said they believe in God remained at 89 percent compared to 92 percent in 2007 when the last survey was done.

People from different faiths pray during an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Tennessee shooting, at Olivet Baptist church in Chattanooga, Tennessee​

Additionally, 60 percent of those surveyed believe the Bible or other holy books are the word of God, with 31 percent saying those books should be interpreted literally. “People who say they have a religion — which is still the vast majority of the population — show no discernible dip in levels of observance,” said Alan Cooperman, director of religion research at Pew. “They report attending religious services as often as they did a few years ago. They pray as often as they did before, and they are just as likely to say that religion plays a very important role in their lives,” he added. “On some measures there are even small increases in their levels of religious practice.”

Pew said that decreases in religious beliefs were likely a result of a growing number of “Millennials” -- young people born between the early 1980s and early 2000s -- who say they don’t belong to an organized religion, and older, more religious Americans dying off. So-called “nones,” those who don’t belong to a religion, make up 23 percent of the adult population compared to 16 percent in 2007. Still, 61 percent of “nones” said they believed in God. One barometer that moved considerably was same-sex marriage, with 54 percent of Christians saying homosexuality should be accepted by society, up from 44 percent in 2007. On evolution, still a point of contention among some Americans, 62 percent of Americans say humans evolved over time, with 34 percent saying they did not believe in evolution.

US Becoming Less Religious Says Pew Study

See also:

Purging Christianity to Please Muslims: German Schools Nix Christian Festival
Tuesday, 03 November 2015 - One critic calls it the “Islamic conquest of the West.” Others say it’s a sign of a collapsing West. But on the heels of a story about European churches removing crosses to accommodate Muslim migrants comes another in the same vein: Some German primary schools and daycare centers are renaming a traditional Christian festival to avoid “offending” Islamic newcomers.

This latest victim of political correctness is St. Martin’s Day, also known as the Feast of St. Martin. Held on November 11 after the harvest, it’s a traditional autumn event on the Christian calendar. But just as how American school calendars long ago renamed the Christmas and Easter breaks, respectively, “winter” and “spring” breaks, secular forces in Germany see fit to further de-Christianize their nation. And the new committee-worthy name they’ve chosen for the feast day is the “Festival of Lights.” Reports Breitbart: The Acting Headmistress of Salesian Montessori Community School in Oberkassel, Nanette Weidelt, told the Rheinische Post that the new name had been adopted, “in order to facilitate integration”. … The head of the German Red Cross in Gerresheim said her institution had also made the change: “We have deliberately chosen [the new name] because we want the meaning of integration and unity to reach as many children as possible, and because more people will participate in our procession”.

WND.com added to the picture, writing, “On top of that, numerous Dusseldorf daycare centers have outright abolished the celebration altogether, due to ‘consideration for the refugees,’ Infowars reported, citing the Epoch Times.” On the other hand, Breitbart tells us that schools such as Sun Road primary in Dusseldorf and Urban Street School in Kita Velberter, Oberbilk, are maintaining the tradition (for now). Not surprisingly, though, the movement to rename St. Martin’s Day is nothing new. As this Epoch Times article points out (text put through Google translate and edited for grammar and style), “The leftist politician Rüdiger Sagel struck two years ago [and said] … the festival should be renamed ‘Sun, Moon and Stars’…. Such changes should be made because there are different religions, in particular a high proportion of Muslim children, in day care centers. ‘You should not impose the Christian tradition,’ Sagel said at the time.”

Yet while some blame only Muslims and others only leftists, the West’s problems are systemic; they wouldn’t be happening were it not for, as British statesman Edmund Burke would have said, the “good men [who] do nothing.” As the Wall Street Journal’s Bret Stephens put it recently: Europe is reaching its end not because of its sclerotic economy, or stagnant demography, or the dysfunctions of the superstate. Nor is the real cause the massive influx of Middle Eastern and African migrants. Those desperate people are just the latest stiff breeze against the timber of a desiccated civilization. Europe is dying because it has become morally incompetent. It isn’t that Europe stands for nothing. It’s that it stands for shallow things, shallowly. Europeans believe in human rights, tolerance, openness, peace, progress, the environment, pleasure. These beliefs are all very nice, but they are also secondary.

MORE

The problem militant secular atheists have with "Saint Martin" here in Germany is it that everyone from all religions celebrates Saint Martin as a festival of the light of solidarity. I never heard of anyone of any religion who did not understand the message of "Saint Martin", whose message seems to exist in all religions of the world. And it was alwas a great fun and joy to celebrate it together with everyone. But if atheists - the uncrowned leaders of all states in the world - don't like it, then I guess they will force us here that we will have to exclude everyone from our celebrations. It's not difficult to destroy a joyful and trustful atmosphere.

 

[AVG-JOE]

It's not a rejection of God, per se... it's an educated realization that the ancient Arab stories starring the family of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael are NOT the last word on the subject.

This is a good thing.

 

[Campbell]

I am starting to wonder how the republicans are going to win the white house.
-Religion is down
-Whites are down
-HIspanics are up
-Asians are up

They'll have to get at least 63% of the white vote and that isn't likely running on a loserterian ticket.

Especially since they've lost the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections.

 

[zaangalewa]

It's not a rejection of God, per se... it's an educated realization that the ancient Arab stories starring the family of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael are NOT the last word on the subject.

This is a good thing.

Everything is good, if you think you are right - everything is bad, if you think you ware wrong. To be right means to be able to survive - to be wrong means to be in the danger to lose life. That's psychology. But what says the reality? If someone has the feeling he could be wrong, then he tries to learn something. "Arab stories" for example don't exist in the bible. They exist in a book called "Fairy tales from 1001 nights" where Ms. Sheherazade fought for her life. Your wrong ideas about the world help no one anything. What about the slogan "think bigger!"?

 

[AVG-JOE]

What about this slogan?

If God is, She's WAY bigger than ALL of the ancient stories, let alone just the most popular two or three.

 

[zaangalewa]

What about this slogan?

If God is, She's WAY bigger than ALL of the ancient stories, let alone just the most popular two or three.

What you say here is a only a form of empty experience. You think little because you think god is made in your image while you deny that god thinks you in his image. God gives the chance to be with him in very concrete ways.

-----
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, ...
-----

-----

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

It's not a rejection of God, per se... it's an educated realization that the ancient Arab stories starring the family of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael are NOT the last word on the subject.

This is a good thing.

Correct.

It also reflects movement away from formal, organized religion – where 'god' as a spiritual concept remains absent the conflict and controversy of man-made religious doctrine and dogma.

 

[ninja007]

America’s Changing Religious Landscape

a libs wet dream....

 

[zaangalewa]

It's not a rejection of God, per se... it's an educated realization that the ancient Arab stories starring the family of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael are NOT the last word on the subject.

This is a good thing.

Correct.

It also reflects movement away from formal, organized religion – where 'god' as a spiritual concept remains absent the conflict and controversy of man-made religious doctrine and dogma.

Sure you can try to unlearn the alpha and omega but why to use the aleph bet for your atheistic doctrine and dogma of separation, isolation and breakability?