Interesting news.

Percentage of Americans calling themselves "Christian" drops 11% in one generation.

When it comes to religion, the USA is now land of the freelancers.

The percentage. of people who call themselves in some way Christian has dropped more than 11% in a generation. The faithful have scattered out of their traditional bases: The Bible Belt is less Baptist. The Rust Belt is less Catholic. And everywhere, more people are exploring spiritual frontiers — or falling off the faith map completely.

These dramatic shifts in just 18 years are detailed in the new American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), to be released today. It finds that, despite growth and immigration that has added nearly 50 million adults to the U.S. population, almost all religious denominations have lost ground since the first ARIS survey in 1990.

Among the key findings in the 2008 survey:

• So many Americans claim no religion at all (15%, up from 8% in 1990), that this category now outranks every other major U.S. religious group except Catholics and Baptists. In a nation that has long been mostly Christian, "the challenge to Christianity … does not come from other religions but from a rejection of all forms of organized religion," the report concludes.

• Catholic strongholds in New England and the Midwest have faded as immigrants, retirees and young job-seekers have moved to the Sun Belt. While bishops from the Midwest to Massachusetts close down or consolidate historic parishes, those in the South are scrambling to serve increasing numbers of worshipers.

• Baptists, 15.8% of those surveyed, are down from 19.3% in 1990. Mainline Protestant denominations, once socially dominant, have seen sharp declines: The percentage of Methodists, for example, dropped from 8% to 5%.

• The percentage of those who choose a generic label, calling themselves simply Christian, Protestant, non-denominational, evangelical or "born again," was 14.2%, about the same as in 1990.

• Jewish numbers showed a steady decline, from 1.8% in 1990 to 1.2% today. The percentage of Muslims, while still slim, has doubled, from 0.3% to 0.6%. Analysts within both groups suggest those numbers understate the groups' populations.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-03-09-american-religion-ARIS_N.htm

dunno

hmmm sounds like end times

And we care because???

people have the right to choose their own believes one way or another

i'm still trying to get more followers for rose-ism lol

Well, the church would not adapt, now it will begin to slowly die! Where one religion falls away another will rise.

Death is the beginning of new life...

Bout time anyways, maybe people are wising up to the deception.

Then again it also may be that the 11% are from other religions!

It depends what counts as a "Christian". For example, I was baptized as a Roman Catholic, and yet I went to church no more than 3-4 times in my entire life.

IMO...it's how everyone defines it for themselves.

I don't believe in organized religion. Though I have to say united church of christ and unitarian churches do the best work with open hearts n open minds.

I'm proud americans are waking up to the phony baloney that is organized religion.

You can be spirtual without someone dictating to you what to believe. So many churches of today remind me of cults.

I also have loads of respect for buddhists.

Love the free thinkers of this site!

Good job.

...I don't have enough Faith to be an atheist...

Well for those of us who are sick and tired of hearing the lie that this is a "christian nation" or the other lie that it was founded as one this is good news.

Fewer people identifying themselves by that brand of religion means greater freedom from their propaganda, proselytizing and attempts to run this country imposing their brand of right and wrong on the rest of us.

could not have said it better...

Like the influence of christainity has done nothing to help society at all, hmmmmmm, interesting take.

Did I say that?

Nope...please reread...

When you turn anything over to human beings, the worst will eventually pervade. That is why no religion or anti religion or government will be perfect or even close. Anyone thinks the world would be a better place without some sort of moral structure is ignorant.

Technically it was a nation an Indian one before it was settled by christains from abroad, but it was an escape for christians to practice their religion without persecution. If their was no structure from religion, which formed most of the laws right and privileges you live under now, where exactly would the "Nation" be?? You may be sick of hearing it, but when you get ripped off and the guilty party goes to jail for it, does anyone complain about it then. Go ahead take it all away and lets just see what becomes of it. But, then again, I am preaching to the choir I am sure!!

Again...I didn't say that either.

This may be news to some but so called Christians do not have a monopoly on good morals!

Really?? Like we don't get that!! I am a strong advocate of Confusious teachings but then again most of a America repeats the diatribe put forth by him and many of them still practice Christianity.

you are right and anyone that thinks so...is wrong. i know alot of people from other beliefs and they are great people. my religious beliefs are mine and i won't push them on others