Religious Disaffiliation in the US

#26
#26
I was raised Presbyterian but now I'm more Deist I guess. I believe in some form of Creator and consider the various religions as pathways in which people connect to and try to understand the Creator and supranatural forces. I would also say that Taoism or Karma make sense to me as both natural and supranatural phenomena

So I guess I'd be in the "other" category (unaffiliated) though I'd probably still ground my connection in Christianity
 
#27
#27
VolsNSkinsFan said:
The affiliation is declining with Protestants.
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And rising quickly with the non-religious.

Also, in the midst of crunching the numbers, I noticed that Canada (which has a Protestant-like presence when it comes to Catholicism) is in sharp decline in the past decade.
 
#28
#28
I can't really say I disaffiliated, because I couldn't claim to ever really be affiliated in the spirit of the word, if not the literal definition. My mom and her side of the family is catholic, so I was baptized and I was dragged to church every sunday up until around highschool, when I guess she decided I was too old to be forced into it. I did go to a private catholic highschool though, and we had to go to church sometimes then. Probably the last time I was in a church was graduation.

I also can't say I ever really believed(as far as I can remember), but for the most part, my only objections to church were that it was incredibly boring experience(catholics, y'all). It wasn't until highschool and after that I started to get a deeper understanding of certain aspects of religious belief and especially religious institutions which I viewed very negatively.

When I think of a real disaffiliation, I imagine someone who has actually invested a lot of time, money, and energy into their religion, and thus the split from said church is something significant. I think the older you are, the more likely you are to have truly disaffiliated in that way, while the younger you are, you are more likely to have it simply phase out of your life as you get older, like me.
 
#29
#29
Religion | Gallup Historical Trends

70% said the were Protestant in the 1940s. Today it's in the 30s. "None" has gone from single digits to teens in the same time period. Catholicism has had growth during the same period

The loss is with Protestants, probably because of their inconsistent message
 
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#30
#30
In general, I believe religion has a positive impact on society. That's the aspect I find potentially troubling about declining participation rates.
 
#31
#31
the further one reaches from the center the weaker the base will be. At least among Catholics the growing areas are actually the 'stricter' branches. I wish i could find the study again that broke down attendance. that was more looking at the orders but has been true amongst the churches i believe as well. Personally speaking i find the larger churches (ie big crowds) to be not as conducive as smaller ones.
 
#32
#32
VolsNSkinsFan said:
Religion | Gallup Historical Trends

70% said the were Protestant in the 1940s. Today it's in the 30s. "None" has gone from single digits to teens in the same time period. Catholicism has had growth during the same period

The loss is with Protestants, probably because of their inconsistent message
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Yes, you've grown a whopping 1% since the beginning of the poll.

The papacy hasn't exactly been consistent at any point.
 
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#33
#33
n_huffhines said:
I do not endorse any church. I do not consider myself religious. Agnostic deist, meaning maybe God exists, and part of me hopes He/She does. "Do unto others" is my religion I live by, I guess.
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This is pretty much my situation.
 
#36
#36
DinkinFlicka said:
Yes, you've grown a whopping 1% since the beginning of the poll.

The papacy hasn't exactly been consistent at any point.
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i think what he meant is you go into one Catholic Church in TN and one in California and one in Vietnam and the message is consistent between the three. most protestants church jump trying to find the right pastor, not really the case for Catholics.
 
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#37
#37
DinkinFlicka said:
Do you see a moral decline that can be linked to religion?
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Charles Murray* is convinced there is a positive causal link between church attendance and divorce rates, standard of living, employment, etc. I haven't looked at the data myself.

*He's a pretty renowned social statistician. He was an impactful part of the war on poverty crowd in the 1960s, but was convinced by the data to crusade against welfare.
 
#38
#38
n_huffhines said:
That's a hard one to leave. They're all hard, but that one is like "shun you" hard to leave. It seems so clearly the right decision in hindsight from the outside looking in, but at the time I was so conflicted.
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Yeah, it was an interesting separation. The only way I felt I could do it was in an abrupt fashion, especially considering the primary catalyst. To this day I pretty much have no relationship with family on my father's side. There is no animus, however.
 
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#39
#39
BTW, it should be mentioned there are two major groups who disaffiliate and they are polar opposites: those who quit church out of laziness/disinterest and those who quit church due to philosophical reasons.
 
#40
#40
n_huffhines said:
Charles Murray* is convinced there is a positive causal link between church attendance and divorce rates, standard of living, employment, etc. I haven't looked at the data myself.

*He's a pretty renowned social statistician. He was an impactful part of the war on poverty crowd in the 1960s, but was convinced by the data to crusade against welfare.
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it could be as simple as a common activity there. Something that is done as a family. just like eating meals, going to sporting events, helping with homework. the more times and reasons you spend time with your family the more stable you are going to be.
 
#41
#41
LouderVol said:
it could be as simple as a common activity there. Something that is done as a family. just like eating meals, going to sporting events, helping with homework. the more times and reasons you spend time with your family the more stable you are going to be.
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I would agree and add that it also is a time to reflect on how you are living your life and treating others. While some services are heavy handed, the activity itself is generally built around looking for ways to 1) increase your positive impact on others or 2) decrease your bad traits.

One doesn't need God to do this but its provides the underlying context.
 
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#42
#42
There is no doubt that the % disaffiliated from Protestant denominations has increased over time. Go to almost any small Protestant church and look at the age of the attendees. Of course, there are exceptions in every denomination but usually, that is due to one exceptional leader (great speaker, huge energy, great people skills).

I don't think the decline is due to theology as both conservative and liberal denominations are experiencing a decline. I don't know the reasons why but as a guess, I would say young people don't feel like the way churches organize/communicate/operate today is very relevant to their lives.
 
#44
#44
OldandStillaVol said:
There is no doubt that the % disaffiliated from Protestant denominations has increased over time. Go to almost any small Protestant church and look at the age of the attendees. Of course, there are exceptions in every denomination but usually, that is due to one exceptional leader (great speaker, huge energy, great people skills).

I don't think the decline is due to theology as both conservative and liberal denominations are experiencing a decline. I don't know the reasons why but as a guess, I would say young people don't feel like the way churches organize/communicate/operate today is very relevant to their lives.
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as a "young" person I have found the reasons rank closer to the following reasons among my peers. ranking starts as the most numerous and descends.

1. They have a problem with people associated with said religion. "A priest once touched a kid now i can't be Catholic"
2. They are lazy, too difficult to go to church where they can't sit on their phone.
3. This might fall under beliefs but many don't like how the church preaches against their self indulgent life styles
4. Theological disagreements, which i have found more often than not again extends to one of the reasons above then it being a "bad" thing the religion believes in.
5. other completely illogical factors as far as faith goes, easily explainable if they sat down to think about (see #2)
6. logical/good reasons
 
#46
#46
I stopped affiliating myself as a Christian when I was 15. I was part of a group that was going to do a mission trip in Jamaica. I had just recently started questioning whether or not I believed in Christianity. I decided it seemed like a bad idea to go preach something to a group of people that I didn't really even believe myself.

I told my mom and, though I believe she was heartbroken, she said I didn't have to go to church if I didn't want to. Over the next year or so after that I slowly declined in the amount that I went to church and eventually stopped altogether. That was about 15 years ago now and I've only been back a handful of times with my mom on Mother's Day.

I allow kids to go to church as they desire. My daughter, who is eight, goes almost every Sunday with my mom. My son is three and doesn't like going so we don't make him.
 
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#48
#48
I think the Information Age and technology in general has played a big role in the trend. From a sociological perspective it makes sense as we have greater connectivity to the world no matter our geography or size of community, speaking generally. Think about what life was like previously. Our agents of sociailization were much more personal in nature; physical presence and gatherings were a necessary part of life. Religious services were a key element of our social activity. Dink mentioned earlier about how reading books had a major impact on his relationship with religion, and that's the other big part of this. Folks simply have greater access to various literature and information that may have a similar impact. That wasn't always the case.
 
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#49
#49
And not to suggest that simply reading and giving yourself more access to information will lessen your chances of believing in a personal God (not that gbc was hinting that either), but I feel like giving yourself more information mediums helps to construct your own personal feelings on certain concepts. For me, it granted me insight into my inner humanist/agnostic. I certainly don't believe in a personal God, but I am open to celestial notions such as karma, chi, and reincarnation. I feel like there is a great intangible energy within all of us and life is about learning how to channel it into prosperity and happiness.
 
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#50
#50
kinda seems like the reformations to me. Its another leap in society. It was litteracy before, now it is technology/connections. there will be a "sky is falling phase" then the religions will likely adjust and things will level out and pick back up for them for a while. certain flavors might die out but new ones will emerge.
 
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