Thursday, October 11th, 2012
Stephan: More from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. The decline of Protestants is a significant trend. Of particular significance it feeds the sense of being besieged felt by the Evangelicals and Charismatics who make up the Theocratic Right. Their diminishing numbers give them a sense of persecution which, in turn, stimulates the hate, fear, and paranoia that is so much a hallmark of fundamentalism everywhere.
This is also part of the great sea change that is taking place in the world. As I have noted before, for the first time in 500 years, since Henry the Navigator, the world increasingly will not be ordered on the cultural values of Caucasian Christianity.
A new poll released today shows that fewer Americans consider themselves to be Protestant, making those that do a religious minority for the first time in history.
The survey, conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, looked at statistics on religion in America and the religious shifts that are taking place in the United States. Of the 2,973 Americans age 18 and older who took part in the survey, one-fifth of them stated they are ‘religiously unaffiliated’. Two-thirds, or 68 percent, say they believe in God, 37 percent consider themselves to be ‘spiritual
