old news but related to this mail from USA
A new survey reveals the dramatically changing face of religion in America, with the number of Muslims in the U.S. soaring 67% in the decade since the 9/11 attacks.
Data released Tuesday from the 2010 U.S. Religion Census shows Islam was the fastest growing religion in America in the last 10 years, with 2.6 million living in the U.S. today, up from 1 million in 2000.
Mormonism too saw remarkable growth, with a 45% increase in adherents. It added nearly 2 million members since 2000, bringing their number in the U.S. to 6.1 million.
"Both of these groups entered more than 200 counties that they weren't in 10 years ago," said Dale Jones, data analyst and mapping specialist for the Religion Census.
The findings represent religious people who attend services. Census surveyors collected data on congregational adherents of 236 religious groups, including full members, their children and others who regularly attend services, with a 5% margin of error.
In the Midwest and parts of the South there are now more Muslims than Jews for the first time. Immigration from parts of the Muslim world and a small rise in conversions are the driving force behind the growth, researchers said. Jones also speculated that the burst of anti-Islam sentiment after the 9/11 attacks could have done more to grow the religion's presence in the U.S. than slow it. Those on the fence about converting to Islam may have decided to do so on principle.
"Persecution is sometimes good for a religious group — in the sense of being able to attract more followers, for some reason," Jones said. "Rarely is opposition a very effective tool in stopping the growth of a movement."
Dr. Ihsan Bagby, associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky, agreed that any negative sentiments against Islam has only built up resilience in the Muslim community. "You get stronger with resistance," he said. "If everything is just peachy keen, it's hard to grow. I think the anti-Muslim atmosphere in certain segments of the public square have actually made Muslims more religious."
The Mormon faith, formally called Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spread beyond the "Mormon Corridor" of Utah, Idaho and parts of Nevada and Arizona, the study also found.
Christianity and Catholicism both saw a small decrease in membership, while the number of Americans who don't identify with any organized religion grew considerably, the report showed.
More than 158 million Americans fell into the "unclaimed" category — more than triple the amount of even the most popular religions in the country.
Thanks,
Smartyouth.
From: Pramod Agrawal <pka_ur@yahoo.com>
To:
Sent: Wednesday, July 3, 2013 4:45 PM
Subject: [www.keralites.net] christianity.
Christianity in England on the decline, non-religious on the rise – censusuk britain england church christian census atheist agnostic non-religious religion secular muslim jewish sikh hindu  The number of Christians in England and Wales declined by 13 percent over the past decade, while the non-religious population grew from 15 to 25 percent, the most recent national census has revealed. Christianity remains by far the largest religion in the country, with more than 33 million adherents amongst Britain's 61 million population, but over 14 million people professed to have no religion at all. Despite this fall-off in support, church leaders welcomed the Office of National Statistics' findings. "These results confirm that we remain a faithful nation," said the Reverend Arun Arora, Director of Communications for the Archbishop of Canterbury's Council. But with a near-doubling in those identifying themselves as non-religious, secular commentators too have greeted the census results. "This is a really significant cultural shift. To see such an increase in the non-religious and such a decrease in those reporting themselves as Christian is astounding," said Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association. Amidst the overall downturn in attendance, leading church figures remain upbeat. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the most senior cleric of Britain's established Church of England, has said that cathedral congregations have grown over the past few years. At the same time, many individual city churches have seen their congregations expand massively. Even those situated within the sparsely populated streets of London's financial district have reported signs of growth. "The number of people who are nominally Christian has gone down, but that of those who are truly committed hasn't," said the Reverend Oliver Ross, Rector of the thriving St Olave church. The last 10 years have also seen the number of Muslims increase from 1.5 million to 2.7 million, while the Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and Sikh populations have also risen. Other census figures indicate that the number of people belonging to the "white" ethnic group decreased by five percent from the last census. The latest release of census results comes at a trying time for the Church of England. The appointment of women bishops was controversially rejected at a church council last month, while parliament is currently engaged in a hotly contested debate on gay marriage, which the Church of England opposes. Information for Northern Ireland and Scotland is conducted by their own national statistic bodies. Christianity in England on the decline, non-religious on the rise – censusuk britain england church christian census atheist agnostic non-religious religion secular muslim jewish sikh hindu The number of Christians in England and Wales declined by 13 percent over the past decade, while the non-religious population grew from 15 to 25 percent, the most recent national census has revealed. Christianity remains by far the largest religion in the country, with more than 33 million adherents amongst Britain's 61 million population, but over 14 million people professed to have no religion at all. Despite this fall-off in support, church leaders welcomed the Office of National Statistics' findings. "These results confirm that we remain a faithful nation," said the Reverend Arun Arora, Director of Communications for the Archbishop of Canterbury's Council. But with a near-doubling in those identifying themselves as non-religious, secular commentators too have greeted the census results. "This is a really significant cultural shift. To see such an increase in the non-religious and such a decrease in those reporting themselves as Christian is astounding," said Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association. Amidst the overall downturn in attendance, leading church figures remain upbeat. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the most senior cleric of Britain's established Church of England, has said that cathedral congregations have grown over the past few years. At the same time, many individual city churches have seen their congregations expand massively. Even those situated within the sparsely populated streets of London's financial district have reported signs of growth. "The number of people who are nominally Christian has gone down, but that of those who are truly committed hasn't," said the Reverend Oliver Ross, Rector of the thriving St Olave church. The last 10 years have also seen the number of Muslims increase from 1.5 million to 2.7 million, while the Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and Sikh populations have also risen. Other census figures indicate that the number of people belonging to the "white" ethnic group decreased by five percent from the last census. The latest release of census results comes at a trying time for the Church of England. The appointment of women bishops was controversially rejected at a church council last month, while parliament is currently engaged in a hotly contested debate on gay marriage, which the Church of England opposes. Information for Northern Ireland and Scotland is conducted by their own national statistic bodies. |
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