A new study of the American spiritual landscape shows more people are changing their faith allegiance or taking leave from those they grew up with. On Monday, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released its findings from a survey of 35,000 Americans about where they align themselves. (http://religions.pewforum.org/reports).More than 25 percent of people have abandoned the faith of their childhood either to another belief or to no organized religion. That increases to 44 percent if we are talking also about movement among Protestant faiths. Thus loyalty to ones parents faith has waned.
Protestants, who have long combined to form the largest religious block, are becoming a minority. And while Catholics seem to be holding their own with nearly a quarter of all people, they continue to lose American-born Catholics. Offsetting for much of the loss is immigration, especially Catholics coming from Latin America. At one time, one in three Americans was raised Catholic. Now, it is about one in four, the study found. The report suggests the Catholic Church must increase its ministry and mission work to Spanish-speaking people.
Among foreign-born adults, Catholics outnumber Protestants 46 percent to 24 percent. For native-born Americans, Protestants outnumber Catholics 55 percent to 21 percent. The study further found that immigration directly has hiked the American population of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists.
Roughly 10 percent of all Americans are former Catholics, the study found. And while six in 10 Americans who are 70 or older wear the Protestant label, it falls to 43 percent among those ages 18 to 29.
We have nearly half the American public telling us theyre something different today than they were as a child, and thats a staggering number, said Luis E. Lugo, director of Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. He said it shows how competitive the religious marketplace has become.
Christian is a label that 78 percent of the population accepts, but 16 percent of people are affiliated with no faith and 5 percent belong to non-Christian faiths.
When looking at income distribution, Jews earned the highest, with 46 percent with $100,000 or more, followed by Hindus (43 percent), and Orthodox (28 percent). Mormons led in the $50,000 to $74,999 category with 22 percent of their memberships. Historically black Protestant churches were lowest in income of the 12 groups examined (47 percent), with Jehovahs Witnesses next at 42 percent.
Educational levels of followers by faith groups were examined. The most with post-graduate degrees were Hindus, 48 percent; Jews, 35 percent; and Buddhists, 26 percent. Orthodox Christians led among college graduates with 28 percent of their membership, down to 6 percent for Jehovahs Witnesses. The highest percentage of members with a less than high school graduation was Muslim, 21 percent; historic Black Protestants, 19 percent; and Jehovahs Witnesses, 19 percent.
The biggest gainer of Americans was the unaffiliated group. Four percent of those surveyed acknowledged they were that same status in the families they grew up with.
Other facts: Far more men than women claim no religious affiliation; 37 percent of people married embrace a faith different from a spouse; Muslims and Mormons lead with large families and offspring living at home; the American South is most populated with evangelical Christians; the Northeast has the most Catholics and the West has the most people unaffiliated people; and Jehovahs Witnesses have the lowest retention rate (just 37 percent of all those saying they were raised as Witnesses still say they are followers). Jews and Mainline Protestants tend to have the oldest people on their rolls.
Those are fascinating findings that should give denominational leaders some pause and some opportunities for bringing people into their fold.
Raised Protestant and now an Atheist. I believe your findings have something to do with the internet and the information age. The more I read about all religions, the more I realized what a crock they all are and their only purpose was control; creating sheep that cannot make a decision without consulting some ghost in the sky. My deprogramming to free-thinking has made interesting conversation between myself and my Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish friends, of which I truly respect. They all agree that the information age of the internet hasn’t changed their belief but has caused them to question some of the literal interpretation of their “good book”. Keeping their faith but realizing most if not all stories of the Bible are metaphorically and allegory and not actually true, used to teach some lesson of morality. Which we all agree some people need, and is not a bad thing. So to each their own. Thanks Lawn for the article.
Respectfully, NeoVintage.