Hark! Good News: Religion less popular

Religiosity is waning in the U.S. Non-belief has almost doubled since 1990.

A wide-ranging study on American religious life found that the Roman Catholic population has been shifting out o of the Northeast to the Southwest, the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say they have no religion at all.

Fifteen percent of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990, according to the American Religious Identification Survey.

Non belief (not the same as atheism) is still a distinct minority, but I’m heartened with the trend line, since I think religion is mostly a negative influence on society. Some of my best friends are progressive Christians, but they are the exception, not the rule.

The number of people who say they have no religion rose in every state. In Oklahoma, the percentage went from 7% to 11% since 1990.

Overall, the study shows there is more variety in religious belief than media discourse and political grandstanding would indicate.

4 thoughts on “Hark! Good News: Religion less popular

  1. Pingback: Is religion less popular or is something else going on? | jmbzine.com

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