Click on the chart to go to an interactive version and select a state
It’s no wonder when you have wackos like this group getting the religious press. Who wants to be associated with that?
A Kansas church group that protests at military funerals across the nation filed suit in federal court Friday, claiming a Missouri law banning such picketing infringed on religious freedom and free speech.
[…]
The church and the Rev. Fred Phelps claim God is allowing soldiers, coal miners and others to be killed because the United States tolerates homosexuals.
I am all for free protest, but at funerals. I mean come on for a bunch of people supposed to be so full of morals deliberately protesting in a way that is bound to upset the grieving people, how hypocritical can you get.
Whoever did that graphic doesn’t seem to know much about religion.
Christianity is a religion. Islam is a religion. Hinduism is a religion.
Baptist is a sect (or denomination) of that religion, rarely considered a totally separate religion.
(OK, some people might divide Catholics and Protestants into two religions. I don’t.)
Anyway, the chart should more accurately put Christianity somewhere around 75% of Missouri, which I think is close to the national average.
When you have that large of a majority, you wouldn’t expect huge short-term swings in numbers. The smaller groups are going to have bigger swings, percentage wise. (Obvious, right?)
I did a quick Google. Can you guess the fastest growing group? It is Wicca!
Anyway, clearly Christianity has been declining in the USA but I would expect the influx of predominately Romans Catholics from Latin America to slow that trend but probably not reverse it.
2: Exactly. I don’t think any Christian would say “I’m not Christian, I’m Protestant”.
It looks like this poll was split to make the numbers look like they mean more than they really do. I mean, what if 5% of Catholics in Missouri became Methodist? The numbers for Christianity as a whole don’t change, but on this graph, suddenly ‘No Religion’ is number 2!
Uh, Greg, religion is on the decline in the whole world. Just a bit more slowly in the US — partly because of the influx of the less educated. Partly because of an anti-science, anti-intellectual culture. Perfectly logical phenomenon.
As for which group is separate from whom, ask a Southern Baptist if they’re just “part” of Christianity. Then, run as fast as you can.
I do agree somewhat with GregAllen, however different sects of Christianity have clearly different views and values. The break down of the different Christian faiths is reflective of it. Try talking to someone who is Catholic or Protestant, they define themselves as such first, before referring to themselves as Christians. It’s similar to how people first define themselves by a particular ethnic group before calling themselves human.
You guys need to read more about the Reformation, and you may have a different opinon on the difference between Catholic and Protestant. Or just read up on the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
There are significant differences between the two religions at every level.
6: Kind of like sunni and shi’a Muslims?
Considering the chart is based on a poll. The questioned asked might have been worded in such a way as to get the numerous responses. For example: what is your religion, if any? Just look at the title of the chart.
Even though what I said was pretty benign, I thought I’d get some flack from it.
Eideard >>As for which group is separate from whom, ask a Southern Baptist if they’re just “part” of Christianity. Then, run as fast as you can.
If you asked them if they were Christian, of course they’d say yes. They would have a narrower definition of what being a “real” Christian is, but it wouldn’t be exclusively Southern Baptist, or even Baptist.
forrest >> It’s similar to how people first define themselves by a particular ethnic group before calling themselves human.
Very good analogy. That one also frustrates me. People often talk about the white “race” or the back “race”. OK, fine. But ultimately we are from the “human race”
Smartalix >> There are significant differences between the two religions at every level.
I acknowledged that one because it is debatable. Similar: Are Shiites and Sunnis two different religions or just two sects of Islam? Most Muslims say sects but some scholars might say religions.
Eideard >> Uh, Greg, religion is on the decline in the whole world. Just a bit more slowly in the US — partly because of the influx of the less educated.
Ouch! If we were all better educated, we’d all quit Praisin the Lord and start reading more of them thar learnin’ books. 😉
Well, we religious people have some room to decline since atheists make up only 2.5% of the world and, according to some, are dropping too.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.gif
To #2 gregallen, it would be silly to ssume USA Today is defining Christian as a religion. They are simply charting responses to a poll; in which I’m sure some people didn’t quite fit in to any choice so they chose Christian.
Much like our president doesn’t go to church or affiliate himself with one.
Some people still claim to be christian but practice at home… on Sunday… in front of the television… with a beer….
You don’t need religion to believe in something. All organized religions are sects. And, when one group of people starts saying that it’s religion is better than another’s, holy wars ensue.
11. gregallen: note that a lot of people in each state declare themselves as “no religion,” which means they’re agnostic, atheist, or really don’t care.
I’m probably agnostic, which means that I think the question of the existence of a deity is by definition undecideable, and therefore not worth considering. I’m ethical however, because I feel that following one’s conscience is generally the way one should conduct one’s life. I don’t really worry about whether there’s a deity out there or not.
Gee, Greg — In the US — the most recent study, by the Pew Foundation listed secular, atheist and agnostic as just under 11% of the US population. And I doubt if the US is ahead of Europe and most others on this one.
Dude — I realize your personal ideological commitment is what you live on. But, if you look around and tell yourself the superstititious side of world ideologies is on the rise, you’re stuck with premises which are incorrect.
Living on the materialist side of the quotient, belief system like that are only a problem for me when they try to become ruling systems, closing off inquiry and education. Otherwise — dream on!
BTW — you might enjoy all the “fractions” wherein they divide Believers.
One problem with religious surveys is that self-categorization will always yield anomalies that some researchers interpret as ignorance on the part of the survey respondents about their own faith. That said, I still think self-categorization is the best way for us to proceed with “the project.”
I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but we’re making RFID tags for all American citizens, for subdermal implantation in the not too distant future. We really do want to put everyone in the correct “faith category” that matches their beliefs. When you’re contacted, it’ll be a lot better for everyone if you cooperate fully, and don’t make any sudden moves 😉
12: I agree. You shouldn’t need the excuse of rules from a deity to act moral and good. It shouldn’t be hard to realize what is right or wrong. Humans are such strange animals. I sometimes take a step back after reading the news and just say out loud, “Silly humans.”
#15, joshua, yes, I feel that way everyday when I look out upon the face of the world. How could the Plan go so awry.
Another problem with self diagnosis is the inbuilt bias. Many people will state they are a member of XYZ Church, yet haven’t even been inside a church since the last wedding they attended.
I don’t know if it would be a better metric, but counting the number of attendees could give a different picture of the true state of religions in America.
What I don’t understand about this is the ACLU doing filing a suit on behalf of this group? Aren’t they the ones that are usually against the religious groups? Aren’t they the ones that try to get religious symbols removed and religious (especially Christian) groups shut down? What am I missing here?
#17 Another problem with self diagnosis is the inbuilt bias.
Mr. Fusion I like your term “self diagnosis” much better than my use of “self categorization.” Your phrase makes all the right implications 😉
As for this survey, I belong to a sect believing that telephones should never be answered before the 17th ring. We have a lot of members in our church, but I see we’re not even mentioned in this survey. I also see that the Amish were passed over as well.
What am I missing here?
You, and many others, miss that the ACLU defends EVERYONE. If you have a constitutional freedom issue, whatever your stripe, they will help defend you.
#9 – Atheism on the decline? That is a real shame.
#12 – Agnostics admit the question is unknowable… Okay… In a universe of infinite possibilities, I suppose, there might be a planet in some distant galaxy that is home to unicorns, dragons, and hobbits. Maybe. I can’t travel (at this point in time) to these distant planets so I should just admit that maybe there are unicorns and dragons and such but it’s unknowable for certain…
Bullshit!
Agnostics straddle a fence on the issue because the lack the intellectual courage of their conviction. This is a binary question. It isn’t “is there a god?” but rather it is “do YOU believe in a god.” and no agnostic believes in a god, if they did, they wouldn’t be agnostics.
There might actually be something like a supreme being in the universe. Anything is possible. But the ones we pray to weren’t revealed to us through any sort of discovery. They are man made and imposed upon us. They are a fiction.
The absence of any kind of measurable, observable, quantifiable, or anyotherable evidence is not proof that there is no god… but it is a giant clue. Faith is the irrationale belief in something that any rational mind would see as amazingly false.
I might seem militant about this issue, but I wasn’t always. I used to think, well, it helps you so i don’t mind what you believe. It hadn’t really occured to me that the laws that govern me would be written by Jesus-freaks and Holy Warrior loonbats… So yes, athiesm is like a religion to me. The right wing theocracy has waged a war on culture. I chose a side.
#18 – Myth, The ACLU is against religion.
Maybe it should be, but it isn’t.
The laws being used against Fred Phelps are unconstitutional and need to be repealled. Which is very unfortunate because it is probably also unconstitutional to enact the law that should have been put in place – the law that allows every greiving family member to beat Fred Phelps into a bloody pulp.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t care if you are conservative, liberal, or anything else. Americans should support the ACLU.
#21 OhForTheLoveOf, your last paragraph hits a very important nail on the head. There was a time when I would never have engaged in religious arguments out of respect for believers. However, their attempts to change our laws based on their claimed religious principles have made virtually every aspect of their religion a legitimate topic of political debate.
If their religion is unsound at its foundation, or if their claims of what their Bible ordains and “entitles” them to do within law and government are not truly supported by their own Bible, then it’s important for their claims to be challenged before they’re reflected in the laws.
I should point out that there are a handful of participants in this forum that I don’t mean to malign in any way, because they regret the hijacking of their faith for often political purposes as much as I do. Cheers.
The study is flawed. There are millions of indians (asian indians) here in US and majority of them are hindus and there is no mention of hinduism even in states like NY, NJ and california where they are in really high numbers.
#24
oops.. not millions but at least 2 million according to census 2000
It took me a minute to realize that the chart was interactive… After that i started clicking around and Washington appears to be the best state for people like myself. The None column outranks all the others, including Catholic (not that I am all that worried about the relatively fun loving catholics).
Doc,
They don’t mention the hindus because chances are that the ones making these polls are Christian and God forbid that the few christians who read realize that there are choices other than the many flavours of christianity.
But Wong… It’s a USA today poll. I thought it was made by journalists. And I thought all journalists were liberals. And I thought all liberals were atheists. And I thought all atheists murder and eat babies. Mmmmmmm baby.
I would have thought that a religion that goes from one member to two would be the fastest growing religion.
RBG
never be answered before the 17th ring. We have a lot of members in our church, but I see we’re not even mentioned in this survey. I also see that the Amish were passed over as well.
Comment by Gary Marks — 7/24/2006 @ 9:06 am
Gary, I am intrigued with you beliefs. Would it be possible to send me some more information, or even better, could I call you?