format_quote Originally Posted by
Argamemnon
Most people say this, but I seriously doubt that religion is that strong in the US. The world's biggest porn industry is there after all, that should tell us something, lol..
I would be happy if one of our American friends could clarify this issue. Are most Americans as religious as people in the rest of the world think they are? Then what's up with all this materialism, capitalism and hedonism.. how religious is that??
More than four out of five adults (83%) pray during a typical week.
In terms of raw numbers, on any given Sunday you will 141,000,000 American in church. Many people think that sports and movies dominate American culture, but this figure is many times over the total of all the people you would find at attending every pro sports game, all of the college and high school sports, and every movied at every theater from the entire week. So, while it doesn't get the press of these other aspects of our daily life, religion still dominates our culture much more than it is given credit for. But honesty requires me to say that a large number of those attending are little more than pew warmers.
The United States is anything but a united state with regard to the practice of religion. Nearly 90% of people say that they believe in God. And over half of the people still report to surveyers that they attended church last week. But most pastors will tell you that what they are used to seeing is about 1/4 to 1/3 of the membership in church on any given Sunday.
Attendance is best in the south and at it's worst in the northeast and Pacific northwest.
George Barna is always doing surveys of the religion life in America and he provides some intersting numbers:
In 2000, it was reported 70 percent of Americans experienced and expressed their faith through their local church, 5 percent through alternative faith-based communities, 5 percent through their families, and 20 percent through media, arts and culture.
Percentage of adults nationwide who have attended a church service in the past seven days not including a special event such as a wedding or a funeral. 2004-43%
2002-43%
2001-42%
2000-40%
1997-43%
1996-37%
1992-47%
1991-49%
47% of American adults attend church in a typical weekend, not including a special event such as a wedding or a funeral.
62% of Republicans attended church in a typical weekend compared to 47% of Democrats. (2006)
Nationally, four out of every ten adults is a born again Christian**. But there is a wide range of incidence levels related to the location of born again adults. For instance, the market with the largest percentage of its adults classified as born again -- by a large margin -- is Jackson, Mississippi, where 83% of adults meet the criteria. There are ten markets in which at least six out of every ten adults are born again -- and each of them is located in the South.
(**You need to know what Barna means by a "born again Christian". This is someone who self-identifies as having had a life changing experience with Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal savior. But they don't necessarily have to live that out, and there are also persons who would call themselves Christian that don't like to use the term "born again".)
There were also six out of the 86 markets studied that had fewer than 25% of the adult public satisfying the born again standard. The lowest of those were Boston (21%), Providence (21%) and New York (22%). Of the six lowest-ranked markets, five are in the Northeast.
The market with the greatest number of individuals who are born again was, once again, the City of Angels (Los Angeles) with 3.6 million born again believers in the metro area.
Just 3 of the nation's 25 largest metropolitan areas have a born again majority. However, 15 of the 27 mid-sized markets (adult population of a half-million up to one million) have a born again majority.
Adults are most likely to claim they have a responsibility to share their religious beliefs with other people if they live in Birmingham, Alabama. That perspective is least common in Providence and Green Bay.
Believing that God is "the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe who still rules it today" is most common in Tulsa. It is least predominant in Boston and San Francisco.
One out of every six residents of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Washington are atheist or agnostic – nearly double the national average. Atheists and agnostics are hardest to locate in Louisiana and Missouri.
In the last four years, there has been a rise in the proportion of adults who read the Bible.
Christians spend seven times as much time on entertainment as they do on spiritual activities.
Although 2/3 of all teenagers say they know all the basic teachings... of the Christian faith, 2/3 reject the existence of Satan, 3/5 reject the existence of the Holy Spirit, and 1/2 believe that Jesus sinned.
Desiring to have a close, personal relationship with God ranks just sixth among the 21 life goals tested, trailing such desires as 'living a comfortable lifestyle.'
A minority of born again adults (44%) and an even smaller proportion of born again teenagers (9%) are certain of the existence of absolute moral truth.
Of the ten moral behaviors evaluated, a majority of Americans believed that each of three activities were 'morally acceptable.' Those included gambling (61%), co-habitation (60%), and sexual fantasies (59%). Nearly half of the adult population felt that two other behaviors were morally acceptable: having an abortion (45%) and having a sexual relationship with someone of the opposite sex other than their spouse (42%). About one-third of the population gave the stamp of approval to pornography (38%), profanity (36%), drunkenness (35%) and homosexual sex (30%). The activity that garnered the least support was using non-prescription drugs (17%). ...Less than one out of every ten evangelical Christians maintained that adultery, gay sex, pornography, profanity, drunkenness and abortion are morally acceptable."
More than half of those who attend a Christian church (56%) say that they are absolutely committed to the Christian faith, and another 33% say that they are moderately committed. (2007)
Commitment to the Christian faith changes considerably with age. Of those who attend church, only 32% of Mosaics say they are absolutely committed to the Christian faith, compared to 48% of Busters, 61% of Boomers and 68% of Elders. (2006)
There has been a 92% increase in the number of unchurched Americans in the last thirteen years. In 1991 there were 39 million unchurched Americans compared with 75 million currently. (2004)
More than three out of five (62%) unchurched adults consider themselves to be Christian. (2006)
8% of the population are evangelicals (2007) Of the five faith segments (evangelicals, non-evangelical born again Christians, notional Christians, adherents of non-Christian faiths, and atheists/agnostics), evangelicals were the most likely to do each of the following:
- discuss spiritual matters with other people.
- volunteer at a church or non-profit organization.
- discuss political matters with other people.
- discuss moral issues and conditions with others.
- stop watching a television program because of its values or viewpoints.
- go out of their way to encourage or compliment someone.