CURRENT RESEARCH
- Americans’ belief in God has dipped to a new low, according to Gallup poll results. While a large, 81 percent majority of Americans still say they believe in God, that number represents a six-point dip from the 87 percent rate of belief consistently reported from 2013 to 2017. Over 90 percent of Americans had said they believed in God from 1944 to 2011, and that number had stabilized at a high of 98 percent from 1944 through the 1960s. About 17 percent of American adults told Gallup that they do not believe in God, while the remaining 2 percent said they were unsure. The Gallup Values and Beliefs poll also found that the decrease in theism has been driven by young adults and those on the political left. Both groups’ belief in God has decreased by 10 percent or more compared to the 2013–2017 average for their demographics. Again, while the poll marks a notable change in belief in God, a sizable majority of Americans still say they have faith. However, recent polls have shown an even sharper decline in adherence and belief in traditional religious structures.
- While Americans tend not to rule out a church based on its denomination, Pentecostalism is a major exception, a new survey by Lifeway Research suggests. According to Christianity Today (June 7), the survey asked respondents to rate nine denominational terms—Assemblies of God, Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Southern Baptist, and nondenominational—and found that more ruled out Pentecostal than any other denomination. Just over half of the respondents (51 percent) agreed that a church with Pentecostal in its name would lower their interest in attending, while for each of the other denominations in the study, most said that a specific religious label in the name of a church was not an automatic deterrent for them. The study suggested that Americans are most open to nondenominational and Baptist churches. One in three respondents said that a church described as nondenominational was not for them, while 43 percent said the same about a church with Baptist in its name. These findings line up with a 2014 phone survey by Lifeway Research which also found Baptist and nondenominational churches to be among those Americans were most open to and Pentecostal churches those they were open to the least.(Christianity Today, https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/june/nondenominational-pentecostal-baptist-church-names-lifeway-.html)
- Minority religious groups lack representation at most colleges and universities across the U.S, a new study finds. As reported in the online magazine The Conversation (June 6), researchers Jonathan Coley, Dhruba Das, and Gary Adler analyzed the databases of student organizations maintained by 1,953 colleges and universities across the country. They “found that Muslim student groups are located at only 28 percent of U.S. colleges and universities, while Jewish student groups are at just 25 percent of U.S. colleges and universities. Additionally, Buddhist and Hindu student groups are each represented at 5 percent of colleges and universities. And 66 percent of U.S. colleges and universities lack any type of minority religious student group.” Using U.S. Department of Education data to look at the characteristics of colleges and universities that are home to one or more minority religious student groups, the researchers found that schools with large endowments and other financial resources tend to have more such groups than schools with fewer resources, which is partly due to wealthier schools employing more student affairs professionals, who support student organizations on campus. As might be expected, schools with larger student bodies were also found to have more minority religious student groups.(The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/2-3-of-us-colleges-and-universities-lack-student-groups-for-muslims-jews-hindus-or-buddhists-183076)
Source: Scroll.in.
- The 2021 Australian census results show a significant decline in religious affiliation, with the proportion of people choosing “no religion” increasing from 29.6 percent in 2016 to 38.4 percent in 2021, the Sydney Morning Herald (June 29) reports. The rise of nine percentage points since 2016 is the single largest increase between censuses for people choosing no religion. Anglicans now represent only 9.8 percent of the population in Australia, with Catholicism continuing to be the largest church at 20 percent. Hindus and Muslims continue to rise, but only make up a small percentage of the population. Hindus grew to 684,002 people, or 2.7 percent of the population, while Muslims grew to 813,392 people, which is 3.2 percent of the population.
Source: ‘The Wee Flea’.
