I believe people are becoming "Unaffiliated" because it is easier to follow a belief then a religion. People don't want to have to follow any rules, they want it to all be ok and "God does not judge". Or they want the churches and religions to "progress" with the times. That is not how religion works. You are suppose to be, in religion, of the Lord, not of the world.

It is much easier to do what you want when you feel you have no one to answer too. Being religious and faithful is not easy, and is not meant to be. It is suppose to be a challenge, but I think it just shows that our society has become lazy, uncommitted, lacking any sense of self responsibility.

Oops. I almost feel off my soapbox

My religious beliefs have certainly shifted from childhood. I grew up in a fairly strict Southern Baptist home and my Nana took us to church every Wednesday and Sunday. As I grew older several incidents in the church put me off organized religion for a long time and I floundered around. I focus my beliefs on spirituality but no matter what I cannot remove my firm belief in God and Jesus that I was taught in childhood. I wouldn't want to either. I may not follow all the rules and doctrines of organized religion but I have faith inside my soul that guides me everyday. I think that is important. In my opinion faith shouldn't be about fear of the almighty but about hope and belief in something greater than myself.

Amen Cine!

haha get it?

ohhh i crack myself up...

"In my opinion faith shouldn't be about fear of the almighty but about hope and belief in something greater than myself."

I hope I did not come across as saying that you should fear God, because I feel the same way as your last sentence.

Amazed they have a historically black category.

I haven't been to church in a while because I feel like they get so far away from the point sometimes. People get so far off from the real foundation stuff we learned in Sunday School. You know, Ten Commandments and Jesus's teachings. Simple things. People get so wrapped up in minding everyone else's business they forget about their own behavior. My mom always told me when I was a kid that "sitting in a pew every Sunday isn't your ticket to Heaven."
You're right though Cine, it's easier to be a believer if you don't have anyone to answer to.

I am not surprised in the least that Catholicism has lost so many people.. I was raised Catholic, and by that I mean what I like to call "modern Catholic" meaning till 1st Communion and then Easter and Christmas after... I hope I don't offend anyone here, but Catholicism is stodgy with not a lot of room for error. And its boring! Oh man, Catholic masses would put me to sleep. Though one time I had a great priest who actually did make me want to show up on Sundays. I think the Catholic church needs to recruit more people with passion who are young if they want to get back in the game...

That being said I know I'll baptise my kids Catholic... I don't mind if they want to switch later, but I think its important for them to get a start in having faith in something so they see its an important part of life.

I was raised Christian but the hypocrisy and lack of logic really got to me and I became Pagan in my teens when I finally sat down and said, "Ok. I know what I've been taught. What do *I* believe is true?" Hopefully people who are changing to another religion are doing so in an effort to find what they believe. We're mostly all working towards the same goal, I don't see why it matters who believes in what.

I was raised in a devout Catholic family. I don't think I missed a Sunday of Church until I was 16 years old. It never bothered me, but I left the church for a little while because I was in the whole "I don't need religion, I can pray on my own" and "Church is boring". I had a rough patch and started to go back. I found the masses peaceful and a time to reflect. I love the art, the tradition and the music. I find it comforting to be in a community.

As of recently I switched churches and I think they are trying to get the youth more involved. When I was a kid, that was not a priority, but I think they saw the error in their ways and are trying to correct it.

I also think the priest are WAYYY better and more interesting then when I was a child, but maybe that is just I am more interested in what they have to say.

That's weird, the study I'd heard about recently said all faiths were dropping in membership except for Catholic, which was seeing a teeny tiny rise in membership and it was linked to the immigration of Hispanics who are largely Catholic.

Just goes to show you that the information is always changing!

I was raised in a Christian home (Lutheran) and both of my siblings and I have each decided, on our own, that we don't believe in god or religion or any of that. I will not raise my kids to believe in god. If that's something they decide to do later then that is their choice. (And they might because to be an atheist is to be a minority and is different to a lot of people and that's important to some people.) I don't think it's a bad thing at all to have different faiths from your parents. Faith and religion (or the lack thereof) is such an important part of people's lives that each person should make the decision to practice or not practice a particular religion on their own in order to better understand what they believe and learn about which faith system corresponds with whatever it is you buy into. I don't think you should inherit your parents religion just because you were raised that way.

I love pie charts. Fascinating info! Two things surprise me here. "Historically black" is a religion...? I don't understand why they would break that out from protestant as a separate religion. Also, Muslims make up 0.6% of the population of this country? I thought that number would be a lot higher. There are as many Orthodox in this country as Muslims, yet other than my father I don't really know any Orthodox people. And, of course, who I know clearly represents the country as a whole.

Half my family are Greek Orthodox, and My fiance has family that are Russian Orthodox. You don't know but on this site, but you, for this we can pretend!

I meant to put *me on this site.

Wow. That number of Muslims should be WAY higher than .6%
Talk about loading the results. In my classes alone, there are only maybe 5 out of 27 of us who are not Muslim. I realize that's a small cross-section, but considering how many countries in the world are predominantly Muslim, you have to imagine they only asked in certain demographics and areas.

That number is off by an incredible amount.

Do you think this has something to do with family life more than faith? I mean, my parents has fallen out of a church community before they had me but began attending church regularly so my siblings and I would have that influence in our lives. Right now I do not attend church for many reasons and do not affiliate myself with a certain denomination, but I know that when I have my own kids one day I will want to bring them up in a church family.
So, I think it would be an interesting thing to look at whether or not the "unaffiliateds" have children and if their parents were affiliated before they were born. Does that make sense?

I think religion does have a lot to do with how people are raised and therefore what their parents believe. Those characteristics and values are definitely something parents attempt to instill in their kids. I think it's actually part of that 'honor thy parents' so it's bad if the kids don't follow their parent's faith. I think.

I do Bible Studies at University, and in my class (and overall in the theology classes) the number of atheists or agnostics is higher than 'Christians' which strikes me as interesting. I think some people can be afraid to affiliate themselves with an organised religion these days because high expectations are placed on them not only by fellow believers but also society's ideals on how people should behave according to their religion. I'm a British Muslim so I'm part of the biggest minority religion here.

Okay, I need to stop rambling now!

I never go to church and neither do my parents but I went to a catholic school and even though I think that a lot of the thing they say don't make sense anymore I still say that I'm catholic if someone ask me my religion and I think that's what happens sometimes with these studies, people say that they belong to certain religion but they don't really live by their rules. But of course that's just my opinion

I don't go to church but I follow the Catholic way of life,the beliefs, i observe the important dates and everything and when i have kids i will go back to church and raise my kids Catholic. I like the symbolism and everything about my religion.

Just for fun -

"I believe people are becoming "Unaffiliated" because it is easier to follow a belief then a religion."

That's possible. But another possible reason is that people find it silly to think that god cares what they eat on Fridays during a couple weeks in spring. If a "god" of any sorts exist, I don't think it's unreasonable for one to believe that it did not write books for us.

"Or they want the churches and religions to "progress" with the times. That is not how religion works. You are suppose to be, in religion, of the Lord, not of the world."

This makes sense to me. Just because we as a society want to have more equal roles for gender, for example, doesn't mean that god wants that role in the church (if there is a god, and if that god cared about that stuff - obviously to someone in a church, that person agrees that there is a god and that god cares about that stuff). My brother thinks the mass should still be said in Latin. If a tenet was important before, it shouldn't lose its importance. (which brings me to limbo - how did that just disappear? if the pope is infallible, does that mean god changed its mind? or that previous popes weren't infallible? but that's a whole separate issue)

"It is much easier to do what you want when you feel you have no one to answer too."

Yeah, but the flip side of that is that being good is then driven by fear of eternal damnation (or some other answer), not out of a desire to be good in itself. That certainly questions the true "goodness" of someone - if I'm only doing something because I'm afraid of the consequences, am I really good, or am I just being selfish, not wanting to spend eternity in hell? (Ultimately, I'd say it's a mix of both for most.)

I was raised a devout Catholic but left the church and have been a Buddhist for 14 years now. There are many things about Catholicism that I liked but for me, any religion that says "our way or the highway" (or "our way or an eternity of fiery torment) really goes against my fundamental beliefs. I believe that there are many paths up the mountain, but they all lead to the same top. I believe that organized religion is something that should support the individual on their spiritual journey - it should not be an end unto itself. In that, I suppose I agree with Kierkegaard - faith is subjective. If you are sincere, the form is not important, but strict adherence to form without sincerity is failed.

I was raised Catholic & followed the Church teachings until I was in my 20's. My Mom is a devout Catholic & it drives her crazy that I don't follow the teachings of the Church more than I do. I had a really hard time reconciling the teachings of the Catholic Church with the cover-up of the sexual abuse committed by so many of the priests. I believe in God & I pray (a lot), but I'm still not OK with the way the Church handled the abusive priests.

I think people are leaving the churches because as some of you have said they don't follow and teach what the bible says and people are tired of it. So many tell me money is the big driver for the churches now. Here is short story from the news wires about who is the fastest growing religon is. It says Jehovah Witnesses are. I think it is because they study the bible in great detail and try there best to live by what it says. It's not just a belief for them it is a way of life.

From the News wires:
Jehovah's Witnesses are the fastest-growing church body in the U.S. and Canada, according to the 2008 Yearbook of Canadian and American Churches.

That doesn't mean they are the largest. Actually, they are far from it, with just over 1 million members. But Jehovah's Witnesses posted a growth rate of 2.25 percent. The largest church body by far is the Catholic Church with 67.5 million. Next is the Southern Baptist Convention with 16.3 million.

The yearbook is produced by the New York-based National Council of Churches and is based on self-reported membership figures for 2006.

Besides Jehovah's Witnesses, only the Catholic Church, Southern Baptists, Mormons, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and the Assemblies of God reported growth in their memberships. All others either posted declines or flat membership.

The Episcopal Church, which has been badly divided in recent years, showed the largest drop in membership at 4.15 percent.

Here is the release from the National Council of Churches, and includes a chart of the top 25 church bodies (scroll to the bottom of the page). And here is a story from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

So how we Atheists and the fellow agnostics stand up to these pie charts of religioners? (yes I did make up a word:)

One can only hope for the future of this world that the non-believers will be pulling ahead for many years to come and the believers eventually fade out. Just like those believing in multiple gods that controlled the weather, wine and fertility..Come on science, we need you to catch up faster lol!

I was raised Roman Catholic, and had a period of time where I was flitting back and forth between that and Protestant. After much research,reflection, and certain spiritual events, I returned to Catholicism with a new perspective. Religion, and spirituality, have become a part of my everyday life, and made me the person I am today. In fact, it was when I researched Catholicism that I realized how intricate, and beautiful it was.

As such, when Berlin compares those who believe in God to those "believing in multiple gods that controlled the weather, wine, and fertility" and that aetheism is the superior mindset, I naturally become annoyed. I find that comment bigoted, ignorant, and calloused, especially when everyone else was being amiable.

I consider myself agnostic. I was raised Catholic and I went to both religious and non-religious schools. Even when I was a little girl I had doubts about God's existence. I'm interested in religion, but I don't follow any. I don't like to have faith in something or someone I've never seen. I disagree completely with the official Catholic Curch, but I don't think it represents all the believers.

Berlin - I have friends with many different beliefs and I respect all of them, I don't think believers need to dissapear. Radicalism and fanatism is what needs to disappear. I don't think science is uncompatible with religion. Faith, whatever it is, can be very helpful to some people. I think everyone should be open and and not try to impose their own point of view.

"But another possible reason is that people find it silly to think that god cares what they eat on Fridays during a couple weeks in spring." - I'm not even Catholic and even I know how out of context this is taken. It's not about what you are eating as much as the symbol of giving up something in your life during lent to try and relate to what Jesus did.

"the flip side of that is that being good is then driven by fear of eternal damnation (or some other answer), not out of a desire to be good in itself." - I grew up in a Christian based faith (my family was and still is very active in their church,) I was agnosticish while I was a teenager. By my early 20's I became what I liked to call very spiritual, but not religious (I would say it fits into cine's "I believe people are becoming "Unaffiliated" because it is easier to follow a belief then a religion.")

In the past year or so I've been attending Catholic Mass on Sundays (never went to Catholic mass until this point in my life) and I have to say that I feel a lot of people seem to speak about the Catholic Church based on the stereotypes that have been associated with it for a long time and my own experiences (Which have been in New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, San Francisco) have not been associated with a strict, vengeful god/church that if you don't follow exactly by what is said you're damned to hell.

My experiences have been quite the opposite and I don't see this fear and damnation that people stereotypically associate with the Catholic Church.

Those who know me know I really don't speak religion much, a main reason I stayed out of this thread for this long, but listening to some comments in here I had to speak up (Rem, I'm sure you know this isn't directed at you, but you usually give me a good place to stand )

I agree with Berlin- I also think that religion is old fashioned in that people used to believe in the sun god, the wine god, the water god, etc. to help them to understand the world and how it came to exist as well as give themselves meaning in life. I think for some people, myself included, science has become the way people answer how the world came to be and how we all got here. I think religion or science or whatever people believe in is how they get through life. People are always searching for answers and sometimes religion can be the way you get them. Personally I don't believe in god but I can't blame or fault someone else in believing in something that I don't. We all want answers to questions that mankind has always wanted answers to. I say 'good for anyone who has faith in what they believe and can find peace in that.' I have faith in science.

Berlin, Jovian, etc.- Hey, slow down! Many people do, in fact, still believe in these multiple gods. I believe they're called pagans and, quite frankly, I was surprised they didn't get their own pie up there. They take their faith as seriously as Jovian takes her Catholicism, so while Berlin was incorrect in assuming their extinction, Jovian doesn't need to take the comparison as an insult.

M3- "Agnosticish" is my new favorite word...very fun to say aloud. Thanks for your defense of the Catholic church- I think I am taking a similar path towards my own faith right now, currently in the "spiritual, not religious" phase, but continually drawn to Catholicism through friends' experiences in the church and the beauty of mass. It's nice to know I'm not alone.

Hi Bethany,

Thank you for your kind words and to hear your experiences too!

It's a very interesting place to be and I look forward to what lies ahead.

No matter what, my experiences have been very kind and welcoming at every mass I have gone to and no one has damned me to hell for not being or converting to the Catholic religion.

Oh, and I love to make up words, its more funner that way!

I've never understood where people get the stereotypes and assumptions that I've heard about Catholicism.

The only thing I can attribute it to is that they just must be uneducated about it, and that they're drawing these stereotypes from things they've seen in movies or on television.

I agree with Linny. Everyone has a right to believe in what they want, but I prefer that people stop trying to convert others--I keep my beliefs to myself and I respect others for theirs. What I really don't appreciate are people saying that the "unaffiliated" are "...lazy, uncommitted, lacking any sense of self responsibility."
I don't believe in god, but I consider myself a very spiritual person with excellent morals and ethics.

"The only thing I can attribute it to is that they just must be uneducated about it, and that they're drawing these stereotypes from things they've seen in movies or on television." - I partially agree with this, but (being I have stood up for the Catholic Church) I feel it is important for me to say one possibility for the other side:

My experiences are all in within the past couple years, while it seems the stereotypes date back much further and have spread largely through, television, comedy and film.

With that being said, these stereotypes may have been a lot more sturdy going back 40 years ago compared to today.

What I can say, is that currently, through my own experiences, they no longer seem to hold as true as people tend to make it seem.

As an african it can be hard to reconcile your faith and your traditional beliefs. Traditional ceremonies, our beliefs in spirits and ancestors, and other complicated stuff makes it really hard.

I also think it would be interesting to look at HOW religiously observant people are. Personally, I try to attend mass every Sunday, but usually wind up missing about one Sunday every other month. But, I know a lot of people who consider themselves to be members of a particular religion, but only attend mass two or three times a year. There's nothing wrong with not attending mass regularly, I just think it would be an interesting thing to look at.

In response to those who wish people would stop trying to convert people:

I grew up outside a very large diverse city and in my 28 years I have come across several different religions.

And yet not once have I ever met someone who tried to convert me or even met someone else who had experienced that either.

So to me, that is just another stereotype about religion. Religous people try to convert other people to become religous.

I dont think this happens as much as people claim it does.

Former morman, I am now an atheist. It was a journey, but I feel so much freer and in control of my life.

Religion: Been there, done that.

mormon, sorry

interesting study indeed.

acyl, i have a friend who is a former Mormon as well.. i am sure that's been a journey to break out of..

i personally am a Christianity, and i will say a couple of things..
first, it's funny to me how a couple of people went on about the mass is boring and the catholic church is irrelevant to today's society, but then in the same paragraph said they would have their kids baptized catholic.. i am not sure i understand that? i think alot of Catholics in particular go through the motions? i personally grew up catholic and am not protestant.. i truly respect the catholic church, i just wanted to go deeper, and wasn't finding that there.. i think as someone put it, the uneducated, ignorant views of people have tainted the view of Catholics, Christians, and religion.. i think it's become stereotyped like every other group, and it's pretty poorly represented.. on the other hand, i agree that Christians as a whole, Catholics, protestants, etc have completely lost focus. i think there are some churches that still are on track, but in general, Christians are the worst representation of their faith, because of their actions.. i think it's become too much about legalism, and less about faith.. so because of that, i really can see how people would step away and kind of do their own thing.. people mess up religion, always go back to the foundation of whatever you believe for answers, not the people.

remedios, apparently you have NO clue what Lent is about.

Just for fun, learn about it, then comment on it.

3M - What you said is definitely true. The Catholic Church doesn't teach the hellfire & brimstone that it did when I was a kid. I remember my Catechism teacher making me cry when I was about 7. I asked how she knew that there really was a God. She yelled at me and told me that I was going to hell.

I feel like a hypocrite when I go to Mass because I question what the Church teaches. I don't know if it's because of my experiences as a kid or what, but I have a lot of guilt over my thoughts on the teachings of the Church. (Do I sound like I need therapy or what??)

Cine - My Mom's favorite saying about lent - "Jesus gave his life for you and you can't give up _____________ for him?" (There's the guilt again.)

Trixie, it sounds like you (and a lot of others in this post) would enjoy Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. It's am extremely interesting read and is good for those who were raised in a religious background and those who weren't.

I, for one, was raised Catholic and am still a practicing Catholic. However, I have always been lucky with my churches. Growing up, my family attended a parish that had just come in to existence and we had an enthusiastic priest. One of the priests at my home parish incorporates jokes and props into his sermons; it really helps keep people's attention.

Also, I went to a Catholic college. Specifically, a Marianist college. The Marianists priests were so amazing; most of them lived in a "dorm" on campus, but some lived in houses out in the student neighborhood. All of them made a valiant effort to really connect with students. It was great to see the priests eating lunch with the students, inviting students over for dinner, etc.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I agree with you guys; the Catholic Church definitely isn't all "fire and brimstone" like so many people perceive it.

The best time I had when I went to church was with a priest named Father Maguire, he was Irish and hilarious. All of us "hip" teens loved him so much we actually went to church on Tuesday morning at 6.30am voluntarily for mass and on Sundays too, I used to daydream that he would be my priest when i got married. He got deported for criticising our government but those four years he was the parish priest were the best.

Trix, I hear stories like that from people (thankfully not many), and I find it so sad. I was NEVER once in my life told I was going to hell. In fact my Christian friends, who are not Catholic and criticize me all the time for being Catholic, are the ones that have preached to me about fire and brimstone. I had and to this day still have a very positive experience with the Catholic church.

No religion is perfect, as it is run by man, and man is not perfect.

I find it funny though when people talk about their perceptions of Christianity, and they for the most part have no idea what they are talking about.

It's so nice to hear that most of you have never experienced the "fire and brimstone" version of Christianity, because it is the main reason I left church many years ago. Our youth director named a list of our classmates, asking "isn't it so sad to think no matter how nice they are, they are going to hell because they're Jewish?"

When all the other kids agreed and my complaints to our preacher went unnoticed, I left and never went back...and of course, now I have this massive spiritual void in my life that I am struggling to fill...but at least I didn't allow myself to become brainwashed and anti-Semitic.
Rant over!