Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Pew Research Center Study on America's Changing Religious Landscape

The Pew Research Center has conducted a new survey on religion in America.  Their complete report is quite long, so you can just browse it.  But everyone should read the summary.

Here are some of the findings from the summary:
  • Christians have declined in overall percentage share and in absolute numbers.
  • Religious intermarriage is on the rise.
  • Switching religion is a common occurrence.
  • Evangelical Protestantism is the only major Christian group that has gained more members than lost via religious switching.
The overview chapter has some nice charts and tables showing changes from 2007 to 2014.
  • The Protestant and Catholic shares have both declined.
  • Orthodox Christian, Mormon, and Jehovah's Witnesses, and Jewish shares have remained steady.
  • Muslim and Hindu shares have both increased, yet the shares are quite low (each less than 1%).
  • Atheist and Agnostic have both increased.

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