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Declining Religious Population In US

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
But that isn't necessarily anything about religion. I myself would call it "philosophy."

Therein lies the rub... what is religion? To no small extent, religion is a Western construct, and in my country, that construct is strongly biased towards Protestant Christian models (ironically, something directly reflected in how this poll was done). What happens when we look at what religion means outside of that box? It definitely contains what many, such as yourself, would label "philosophy." That's why I ask the question - are my people really becoming less religious or is the expression of religion becoming less constrained by Protestant Christian (or Abrahamic in general) norms?

It's probably a bit of both, really. Is it worth teasing out the details? I'm not sure. Again, religion is something of a construct, so doing that is an academic exercise more than anything else. In general, I think it would be more insightful to look at various aspects associated
with religions and see how they are operating regardless of religious affiliation. For example, what do people identify as their most deeply held values? What practices do people engage in that celebrate things they value or find important? How do folks cultivate supportive communities that nurture well-being and relationships? That's the substance of religion.... I'm interested in that regardless of whether the "religion" label is slapped on it or not.
 

BSM1

What? Me worry?
I don't know if that is true. Just because they no longer are following a "religious" ideology doesn't mean they are not following some other crazy ideology.

That's not what the poll was about. Even so, wouldn't that mean they're thinking for themselves in a manner?
 

Saint Frankenstein

Wanderer From Afar
Premium Member
I view it negatively. I don't like to see the decline of traditional religion. I would like America to remain Christian but to actually practice the social teachings of the Gospel instead of being hateful hypocrites.
 

Jose Fly

Fisker of men
I must agree with @Quintessence here. The term ‘religion’ as used in this poll is so very vague.
You should CLICK HERE to see a more comprehensive description of the results. This figure may be more helpful....

ChangingReligiousLandscape_01_V2_SD.jpg



The results of this poll are consistent with other similar polls, especially in terms of the main take-home message.....religion (especially Christianity) is in decline in the US and "no religion" is on the rise.
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
The less of this sort of thing, the better (and be sure to watch to the end)....

OMG!

When your IQ is smaller than your white collar size, I guess that makes you perfect for the pulpit! At least Catholic priests have to get the equivalent of a Master's degree, instead of a hand-written certificate from Billy-Bob's Bible College and Bait Shop!
 

Sundance

pursuing the Divine Beloved
Premium Member
You should CLICK HERE to see a more comprehensive description of the results. This figure may be more helpful....

ChangingReligiousLandscape_01_V2_SD.jpg



The results of this poll are consistent with other similar polls, especially in terms of the main take-home message.....religion (especially Christianity) is in decline in the US and "no religion" is on the rise.

I'm not sure “comprehensive” is the word I would use here, dude. But eh....
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
OMG!

When your IQ is smaller than your white collar size, I guess that makes you perfect for the pulpit! At least Catholic priests have to get the equivalent of a Master's degree, instead of a hand-written certificate from Billy-Bob's Bible College and Bait Shop!
Kent hovind comes to mind.
 

Ponder This

Well-Known Member
It seems that religion in the United States is on the decline:

ChangingReligiousLandscapeCharts-04-1012x1024.jpg


Do you think that this is a positive, or a negative change? Me, I would have to say positive. But since I'm an atheist, that's probably a bit biased.

'good', 'bad', 'positive', negative'... meh. Only God is good.
But I would say that a movement towards no religion seems like a negative to me as I am left wondering what common values those people hold.
At least with religion, it seems that people hold to a common value of something greater than themselves. Religion is a glue that binds people together. Religion coming from 'religare' meaning 'to bind' and 'religio' meaning 'obligation, bond, reverence'.
So in the absence of something that binds people together, how can I view such a change as anything but the degradation and falling away of the common values of society? Is this not the loosening of obligation, the bonds that hold us together in social contract, and rise of irreverence?
 

Skwim

Veteran Member
Do you think that this is a positive, or a negative change? Me, I would have to say positive. But since I'm an atheist, that's probably a bit biased.
Obviously, this depends on what side you're looking at. As for whether or not this is good, I vote for good.

.
 

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
It seems that religion in the United States is on the decline:

ChangingReligiousLandscapeCharts-04-1012x1024.jpg


Do you think that this is a positive, or a negative change? Me, I would have to say positive. But since I'm an atheist, that's probably a bit biased.
based on information; which is more readily available, i think that is a positive. people are adjusting their belief systems
 

Faithofchristian

Well-Known Member
It seems that religion in the United States is on the decline:

ChangingReligiousLandscapeCharts-04-1012x1024.jpg


Do you think that this is a positive, or a negative change? Me, I would have to say positive. But since I'm an atheist, that's probably a bit biased.

The question to ask is, What is the reason behind the decline ? Could it be according to the Bible people are looking for truth and not getting it from their Pastor's
Preachers ?
Would you be more accepting of being told the truth or more accepting of not being told the truth ?
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
It seems that religion in the United States is on the decline:

ChangingReligiousLandscapeCharts-04-1012x1024.jpg


Do you think that this is a positive, or a negative change? Me, I would have to say positive. But since I'm an atheist, that's probably a bit biased.

It's happening (by degrees) across the 1st world there are several reasons, the freedom of information being primary. The willingness to access and contemplate this information and make decisions based on it can only be a positive thing.

However there are many die hard funnymentalists and 3rd world regimrs who choose not to educate themselves and attempt to lever their ignorance into others. They, no doubt consider freedom of information to be negative.
 
...examine what is really going on... I could be one of those people who conflates religion with authoritarianism, dogmatism, or all other assorted nasty things.
My guess is that religion used to be a lot more "popular." That it was the thing to do in order to meet new, generally/fairly "good" people and socialize. And my other guess is that it has become a lot more unpopular... and this somewhat due to the things you seem to be saying people shouldn't conflate with religion. That is, people now more easily see some of the authoritarianism, dogmatism, etc. for what it is.

Especially now when there are so many other options for socialization and info-share. With the advent of the internet and cell-phones (where all forms of communication are simply "at-hand"), nearly no one is only communicating with the people of their town/neighborhood anymore - and so everyone is getting a taste of what "outsiders" think of their religious beliefs, everyone sees the arguments against them, a lot more people know about the sheer volume of religious beliefs that there are in the world... it's simply harder to feel that you have it "right" these days.


I somehow doubt my peoples have stopped asking big, existential questions.

I know PLENTY of people who do not ask the big questions. Some of them even go into the conversational equivalent of clamming up and shrinking away uncomfortably when you even try to talk about them.



In the end, I think there is just a lot more communication and information readily available on negative associations with word "religion" than there used to be. And the "social" aspect (for those that were using religion almost solely for that purpose) is almost completely unnecessary now. My gut feeling is that this is one of those situations where the crowd waving "goodbye" will just keep gaining members.
 

loverofhumanity

We are all the leaves of one tree
Premium Member
It seems that religion in the United States is on the decline:

ChangingReligiousLandscapeCharts-04-1012x1024.jpg


Do you think that this is a positive, or a negative change? Me, I would have to say positive. But since I'm an atheist, that's probably a bit biased.

I think you'll find that what people are turning away from is not true religion but lack of it.

True religion means honesty, integrity, truthfulness, the virtues such as love and compassion. No-one is turning away from these things which are the essence of religion. People are turning away from the misrepresentation of religion and rightfully so.

People by nature are good and generally turn away from that which is bad or hypocritical and the disunity between religions represents one aspect of current day religions which goes against love and tolerance so people are against that.
 

Skwim

Veteran Member
I think you'll find that what people are turning away from is not true religion but lack of it.
People are turning away from a lack of religion? I'm not quite sure what this would entail, but taking a guess, if this is true then I would think religious identity would be increasing, which it isn't.
662a0ab7e5f8677dd8694b9099d1a7c8.png



True religion means honesty, integrity, truthfulness, the virtues such as love and compassion.
Gee, pretty much the same qualities any good secular person would display. Or are you claiming these qualities are confined to the religious?

.
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
You should CLICK HERE to see a more comprehensive description of the results. This figure may be more helpful....

ChangingReligiousLandscape_01_V2_SD.jpg



The results of this poll are consistent with other similar polls, especially in terms of the main take-home message.....religion (especially Christianity) is in decline in the US and "no religion" is on the rise.
Well, that shows what’s going on more clearly. I was wondering whether the decline of Protestantism in the OP was just brand-switching to other denominations not considered Protestant.

I think the change is positive.
 
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