Thursday, October 26, 2006

TOPIC: 50 Years of Religious Trends in America
Christianity Today is celebrating their fiftieth anniversary. CONGRATULATIONS to CT! Their anniversary edition offers a comparison of statistics from the 1950s to more recent statistics -- revealing some trends regarding religion in America:
Americans who say that religion is very important in their lives.
1952 75%
2005 59%
Those who say they are members of a church.
1952 73%
2005 64%
Those who say they attended church or synagogue in the last seven days.
1956 46%
2005 43%
Those who say religion is increasing its influence on American life.
1957 69%
2005 47%
Those who believe in God or a universal spirit.
Mid-1950s 9 in 10
Latest 9 in 10
Those who pray to God or a higher power.
Mid-1950s 9 in 10
Latest 9 in 10
Those who say religion can answer all or most of today's problems.
1957 80%
2005 59%
Those who say the Bible is the Word of God and should be taken literally, word for word.
1963 65%
2006 28%

American religious preferences

1957

2005

Protestant

66%

50%

Catholic

26

25

Jewish

3

2

Other

1

13

None

3

8



QOTD:
For all the anger and fear so often expressed about the intersection of politics and religion, I believe that a vision of public service based upon serving rather than being served is ultimately a vision of hope and not despair. -- Senator John Kerry (Pepperdine University on September 18 about how his faith shapes his political views)

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