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    Our Place in The World of Religion

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    afientai
    This document summarizes statistics on religious identification and participation in the United States and worldwide. It shows that in the US, around 78% of adults identify as Christian, with Protestants making up 51% and Catholics 24%. Around 17% of US adults are unaffiliated. Worldwide, Christianity and Islam are the largest religions, with over 2 billion and 1.3 billion adherents respectively. Participation in religious activities tends to be higher among older age groups and in more traditional societies.

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    Our Place in The World of Religion

    Uploaded by

    afientai
    26 views20 pages
    This document summarizes statistics on religious identification and participation in the United States and worldwide. It shows that in the US, around 78% of adults identify as Christian, with Protestants making up 51% and Catholics 24%. Around 17% of US adults are unaffiliated. Worldwide, Christianity and Islam are the largest religions, with over 2 billion and 1.3 billion adherents respectively. Participation in religious activities tends to be higher among older age groups and in more traditional societies.

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    This document summarizes statistics on religious identification and participation in the United States and worldwide. It shows that in the US, around 78% of adults identify as Christian, with Protestants making up 51% and Catholics 24%. Around 17% of US adults are unaffiliated. Worldwide, Christianity and Islam are the largest religions, with over 2 billion and 1.3 billion adherents respectively. Participation in religious activities tends to be higher among older age groups and in more traditional societies.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    26 views20 pages

    Our Place in The World of Religion

    Uploaded by

    afientai
    This document summarizes statistics on religious identification and participation in the United States and worldwide. It shows that in the US, around 78% of adults identify as Christian, with Protestants making up 51% and Catholics 24%. Around 17% of US adults are unaffiliated. Worldwide, Christianity and Islam are the largest religions, with over 2 billion and 1.3 billion adherents respectively. Participation in religious activities tends to be higher among older age groups and in more traditional societies.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 20

    Our Place

    In the World of Religion

    Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists:


    Adult Lifespan Faith Development
    “Our Place in the World of Religion” (2008)
    IDENTIFICATION WITH
    MAJOR RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS IN THE U.S.
    (expressed as % of U.S. adult population: ~ 228 Million)

    Christian
    Other Religions
    Unaffiliated
    IDENTIFICATION WITH RELIGIOUSLY “CHRISTIAN”
    SEGMENT OF U.S. ADULT POPULATION

    CHRISTIAN (78.4%)
    Protestant 51.3
    Evangelical Churches 26.3
    Mainline Churches 18.1
    Hist. Black Churches 6.9
    Catholic 23.9
    Mormon 1.7
    Jehovah’s Witness 0.7
    Orthodox 0.6
    Other Christian 0.3
    IDENTIFICATION WITH RELIGIOUSLY “OTHER”
    SEGMENT OF U.S. ADULT POPULATION

    OTHER RELIGIONS (4.7%)


    Jewish 1.7

    Buddhist 0.7

    Muslim 0.6

    Hindu 0.4

    Other World Religions <0.3

    Other Faiths* 1.2


    * includes UUs at ~ .3)
    IDENTIFICATION WITH RELIGIOUSLY “UNAFFILIATED”
    SEGMENT OF U.S. ADULT POPULATION

    UNAFFILIATED (16.9%)

    Atheist 1.6

    Agnostic 2.4

    Secular Unaffiliated 6.3

    Religious Unaffiliated 5.8

    Don’t Know/Refused Categ. .8


    IDENTIFICATION WITH WORLD RELIGIONS
    RANKED BY NUMBER OF ADHERENTS

    RELIGION/SECT/ ADHERENTS RELIGION/SECT/ ADHERENTS


    BELIEF SYSTEM (est.) BELIEF SYSTEM (est.)
    Christianity 2 billion Jehovah’s
    6.5 million
    Islam 1.3 billion Witnesses

    Atheism (includes Confucianism 5-6 million


    1.1 billion
    agnostic & nonrelig.)
    New Age 5 million
    Hinduism 900 million
    Buddhism 360 million Wicca 1-3 million
    Judaism 14 million Unitarian
    635,000
    Mormonism (LDS) 12.2 million Universalism
    Seventh Day 150,000 –
    10 million Christian Science
    Adventist 400,000
    DYNAMICS of IDENTIFICATION
    WITH CATHOLIC CHURCH

    24% Catholic share of U.S. adults, holding steady for thirty years

    31/% U.S. adults identifying itself as raised Catholic


    11% U.S. adults leaving Catholic Church since childhood
    U.S. adults joining Catholic Church over same period, partially
    4%
    offsetting departures

    46% Immigrants entering the U.S. identifying themselves as Catholic,


    accounting for most of the above 4% intake

    23% Catholics who identify themselves as immigrants


    IDENTIFICATION WITH RELIGIOUSLY “UNAFFILIATED”
    SEGMENT OF U.S. ADULT POPULATION

    UNAFFILIATED (16.9%)

    Atheist 1.6

    Agnostic 2.4

    Secular Unaffiliated 6.3

    Religious Unaffiliated 5.8

    Don’t Know/Refused Categ. .8


    UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM AS
    PERCENTAGE OF U.S. POPULATION

    2001 2008 GROWTH

    U.S.
    POPULATION
    285 million 303 million 18 million / 6%

    UNITARIAN
    UNIVERSALISM
    218,000 221,000 3,000 / 1.3%
    PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN
    SELECTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (U.S.)

    LOW PARTICIPATION FACTOR HIGH

    Importance of Religious Beliefs

    Relevance of Religion to Right and


    Wrong Evangelical
    Mainline Protestant
    Attendance at Worship Historically Black
    Jewish Services
    Churches
    Buddhist Prayer/Meditation Practice
    Mormon
    Church Activities Outside Worship
    Unaffiliated
    Jehovah’s Witnesses
    Membership as a % of Those Who
    Identify with a Religious
    Tradition
    PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN
    SELECTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (U.S.)

    PARTICIPATION
    LOW HIGH
    FACTOR
    Historically Black
    Jewish (55%)
    Churches (83%)

    Buddhist (30%) Membership as a Mormon (92%)


    Percentage of
    those who Identify Jehovah’s
    Unaffiliated (22%) with a Religious Witnesses (76%)
    Tradition.
    Unitarian
    Evangelist (74%)
    Universalist (35%)
    PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN RELIGION
    (WORLDWIDE)
    (by developmental classification of societies)

    Post-
    Agrarian Industrial
    Industrial

    Church
    49% 25% 22%
    Attendance
    Religious
    64% 34% 26%
    Values
    Prayer
    52% 34% 20%
    Practice
    PARTICIPATION TRENDS IN RELIGION
    OUTSIDE THE U.S.
    (by % of adult population)

    100
    90
    80
    70
    60 1970
    50
    40 1998
    30
    20
    10
    0

    Italy
    France Britain
    Ireland
    Belgium Germany
    Netherlands
    PARTICIPATION TRENDS IN RELIGION IN THE U.S.
    (by % of adult population)

    35
    30
    25
    20 Attend Weekly
    or More
    15 Never Attend
    10
    5
    0
    1972 2002
    FUTURE TREND SHOWN IN CORRELATIONS
    BETWEEN AGE AND RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION (U.S.)

    100
    87.5
    80 75

    60

    40 affiliated
    25 unaffiliated
    20
    12.5
    0
    18-29
    30 & Over
    FUTURE TREND SHOWN IN CORRELATIONS
    BETWEEN AGE AND RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION (U.S.)

    PARTICIPATION
    LOW HIGH
    FACTOR

    Importance of
    18-29 65+
    Religious Beliefs

    Attendance at
    18-29 65+
    Worship Services

    18-29 Prayer Practice 65+


    FUTURE TRENDS SHOWN IN CORRELATIONS
    BETWEEN AGE AND RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION
    (WORLDWIDE)

    AGRARIAN INDUSTRIAL POST


    INDUSTRIAL

    < 30 49 22 15

    30-59 47 23 21

    60 + 47 29 35
    PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN
    SELECTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (U.S.)

    LOW PARTICIPATION FACTOR HIGH

    Importance of Religious Beliefs

    Relevance of Religion to Right and


    Wrong Evangelical
    Mainline Protestant
    Attendance at Worship Historically Black
    Jewish Services
    Churches
    Buddhist Prayer/Meditation Practice
    Mormon
    Church Activities Outside Worship
    Unaffiliated
    Jehovah’s Witnesses
    Membership as a % of Those Who
    Identify with a Religious
    Tradition
    Sources
     Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, U.S. Religious Landscape
    Survey (2007-2008),
     U.S. population data from U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of
    the United States (population report 2006; 2008 data based on U.S.
    Census Bureau projections)
     The Big Religion Chart from ReligionFacts (http://www.religionfacts
    .com/big_religion_chart.htm)
     Unitarian Universalist data from UUA membership reports and
    Commission on Appraisal, Engaging Our Theological Diversity, pp. 34-
    35 (2005).
     Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, Sacred and Secular (Cambridge
    University Press 2004)
    Learn More

    Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists


    http://www.wuu.org

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