Bishop Paul Morton, founder of International Presiding Bishop of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, speaks to reporters as Pastor Talbert W. Swan II of Solid Rock Church in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, Dr. William L. Sheals, senior pastor of Hopewell Baptist Church in Norcross, Georgia and Bishop LeRoy Bailey, Jr. of The First Cathedral in Bloomfield, Connecticut listen during a news conference on Capitol Hill May 17, 2004 in Washington, DC. Clergy officials held the news conference to call on the U.S. Congress to act against same-sex marriages which is legal in Massachusetts starting today. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
From Ebony.com: It’s not exactly Bill Maher’s wet dream of atheism becoming all the rage, but one thing is for certain: the religious makeup of America is shifting.
In other words, that Protestant reign has finally let up. The downward trend has been going on for some time now, but with the U.S. Supreme Court having no Protestant judges and the Republican Party producing their first presidential ticket without a Protestant candidate made it all the more noticeable. Now a new study from Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life has confirmed it: The United States no longer has a Protestant majority.
The new revelation is a direct result of an increasing number of Americans not identifying with any particular religion. In their findings, Pew says that one-fifth of the U.S. population – and a third of adults under 30 – are religiously unaffiliated. It is the highest percentage for each in Pew Research Center polling history.
God hasn’t necessarily lost luster overall, though. True enough, 6% of all U.S. adults may be self-described atheists and agnostics, but it’s mostly a rejection of organized religion versus an overall concept of a deity. In years past, those who infrequently attended religious services still identified with a religious label.
Now, that tide has shifted and of the 46 million of unaffiliated: “Two-thirds of them say they believe in God (68%). More than half say they often feel a deep connection with nature and the earth (58%), while more than a third classify themselves as “spiritual” but not “religious” (37%), and one-in-five (21%) say they pray every day. In addition, most religiously unaffiliated Americans think that churches and other religious institutions benefit society by strengthening community bonds and aiding the poor.”
Moreover, the study reveals with “few exceptions” those who are now unaffiliated “say they are not looking for a religion that would be right for them.” Much of that can be attributed to an “overwhelming” belief that “religious organizations are too concerned with money and power, too focused on rules and too involved in politics.”
While I’m sure “prosperity preaching,” which is nothing more than Christianity for the capitalist, may turn off a few people, the latter issue may be what’s help pushed the break from religious conventionalism more.
Take for instance, the newly formed nonprofit group, God Said, consisting of various Black religious leaders looking to strip President Obama of 25 percent of the Black vote he earned in 2008 (95 percent) due to his personal support of gay marriage. The group plans to mainly target voters in the swing states of Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Florida with television and radio advertising.
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