Interesting Findings on Religion in America

Today the "Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life" released survey findings after having interviewed more than 35,000 adults related to their religious and faith affiliations. Click here to read the entire article. Here are a few of the survey's intriguing findings ...

*More than one-quarter of American adults have left the faith of their childhood for another religion or no religion at all.

*The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey estimates the United States is 78 percent Christian and about to lose its status as a majority Protestant nation, at 51 percent and slipping.

*Mainline Protestant churches (Methodists, Baptists) are in decline

*One in four adults ages 18 to 29 claim no affiliation with a religious institution.

*The majority of those who claim no religious affiliation -- 12 percent of the overall population -- describe their religion as "nothing in particular," and about half of those say faith is at least somewhat important to them.

*Atheists or agnostics account for 4 percent of the total population.

*The Roman Catholic Church has lost more members than any faith tradition because of affiliation swapping. While nearly one in three Americans were raised Catholic, fewer than one in four say they're Catholic today. That means roughly 10 percent of all Americans are ex-Catholics. Nearly half of all Catholics under 30 are Hispanic

*The religious group with the worst retention is one of the fastest growing -- Jehovah's Witnesses. Only 37 percent of those raised Jehovah Witness remain members.