As reported on The Lead yesterday with commentary and links, the survey on Religion in the US by the Pew Forum continues to engage churches and media with its results and possible meaning for the future of religion and its role in the US.
The Wall Street Journal comments:
America’s shifting religious landscape could affect voting patterns, scholars say. Pew has found, for example, that when Latinos leave Catholicism for evangelical churches, they often become more politically conservative. The changes also could have financial implications for religious schools and social services — homeless shelters, food pantries and clinics — that rely on donations from religious denominations.
NPR is featuring the report on Morning Edition today.
Steve Inskeep discusses the report’s findings with Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
One of the major findings, Lugo says, is that immigration trends are affecting religion demographics in America — tilting the Christian balance in the U.S. toward Catholicism and diversifying the range of choices that are nontraditional to the U.S.
According to the study, more than one-quarter of American adults (28 percent) have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion — or no religion at all. If change in affiliation from one type of Protestantism to another is included, 44 percent of adults have either switched religious affiliation, moved from being unaffiliated with any religion to being affiliated with a particular faith, or dropped any connection to a specific religious tradition altogether.
Listen live here.
The Boston Globe has some interpretive graphics to go with their report:
The new study is filled with findings about a remarkably diverse nation, with a population that is shaped by affiliation with a vast and shifting array of religious groups and sects. Every religious family – Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists – is represented by a number of subgroups. Scholars believe, for example, that the Muslim population of the United States – which is made up of African-Americans, whites, and immigrants from both south Asia and the Arab world – is more diverse than anywhere else.
For more read here.