October 9, 2012
For what may be the first time in centuries, Protestants no longer make up the majority of Americans. Those claiming to be Protestants have slid to 48% in the United States, down from 52% in 2007. 22% of Americans claim Roman Catholicism, just edging out the "nones," a category that has been surging in recent years. 20% of Americans, primarily the under-30 set, claim no religious affiliation. The study pointed out that "none" needn't necessarily mean "atheist" as much as it implies a dissatisfaction with mainline denominations. Either way, it's a major religious, cultural and even political shift in a country for which religious freedom is a benchmark ...
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Steve Pierzchala commented…
As a member of a Protestant church that has recently plunged into cultural irrelevance and is returning to the lukewarm and culturally safe Evangelical fold, I'm not surprised. Just this week I had to deal with the idea that lay people are too ignorant to understand theology. I'm a 50 something geezer who is on the unBiblical democratically elected church board as outreach coordinator and am fearful that I will be unable to find a church of theological and discipleship relevance. I'm looking for postmodern millennials willing to take me and my wife in. I am fed up with the moderns! Oops, I forgot, I are one. :{
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tre kendrick commented…
This poll is kind of misleading. There are thousands of 'protestant' denominations that have noaffiliationwitheach other and countless disagreements. A majority of their members would have no solid, unified, or even historically accurate explanation of how they are united together in protest of Catholic Orthodoxy. They can't simply be summed up as one brand of faith like all of the other categories in this poll can. There is no one protestant church. And finding some kind of unity in the fact they claim to protest Catholicism?? We could then add all of the "nones" into this category too.
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