Last year back in 2008, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life had interviewed 35,000 for a survey. It coincided with findings that Protestantism and Catholicism were losing members over the years. They either converted to a different religious faith or dropped religion completely.
But the study generalized on religion in general. It did not focus on religious congregations.
Today, a new survey was launched. This was conducted by the American Religious Self-Identification Survey (ARIS). It was launched by Trinity College in Connecticut. According to this study, seventy-six percent of the United States identified themselves as Christian.
On top of that, they are more of “general Christians.” In that regard, it would be certain denominations of Christianity are losing out. Catholicism has been losing out big time. In the northeast United States, Catholics have seen a massive decline in members.
According to the Pew Forum survey in 2008, it was revealed that most Catholics under 30 years of age are Latino.
This survey shows that Christianity in general is losing membership. Also, other religious denominations are slowly growing as a result. In this respect, Christianity in general is slowly losing its foothold and influence.
One should pay attention as it will have political and social effects in the future. On a side note, United States President Barack Obama has reversed former US President George W. Bush’s ban on federal funding for stem cell research. That has been a major hot topic.
In that respect, it brings forth the conflict between the science and religious communities. Plus, it does put Obama at odds with the religious right. On another note, with the slow decline in the religious, it could equate to less “moral opposition” in the future.
According to John Green of the Pew Forum, religion in America is diverse. He adds that it will become more diverse.
He said: “That’s interesting because we tend to think of religion as a pretty stable thing that changes on a generational scale. But there may be more change on than we had anticipated.”
While Catholicism is one of the faiths losing out, the Vatican had created the “seven mortal sins” in 2008. It was aimed to get more people to come to confessional. Perhaps the Seven Mortal Sins have come a wee bit too late?
The ARIS is available here to look at. So far, the results are pretty interesting.