10% Of All Americans Are Ex-catholics!

[Budge]

[i]Sure some have left to be secularists and other religions and there are the Proto Prots and those afraid to leave because of family pressures, but many heed the call of the Holy Spirit once they are born again and GET out as I did after I was born again, realizing Rome's false doctrines and huge role they were playing in the formation of the antichrist's one world religion.

Actually there is more respect to be had for someone who takes the time to examine their beliefs, and own them rather then someone who just goes to a church because Mom and Dad did, and never examines anything. Tjat applies even to being a Christian. There are some who do truly convert from Christian parents to be a Christian, but there are many who do not. Many stay Catholics {etc etc} because "that is what they were raised". And there isnt just such a thing as cultural Catholics but cultural Protestants and others as well.

This survey is interesting because it has found that EX-CATHOLICS ARE THE BIGGEST GROUP, but I already suspected that.[/i]


[quote](AP) -- The U.S. religious marketplace is extremely volatile, with nearly half of American adults leaving the faith tradition of their upbringing to either switch allegiances or abandon religious affiliation altogether, a new survey finds.
art.church.gi.jpg

[font="Arial Black"]The survey found the Roman Catholic Church has lost more members than any faith tradition.[/font]
The study released Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life is unusual for it sheer scope, relying on interviews with more than 35,000 adults to document a diverse and dynamic U.S. religious population.

While much of the study confirms earlier findings -- mainline Protestant churches are in decline, non-denominational churches are gaining and the ranks of the unaffiliated are growing -- it also provides a deeper look behind those trends, and of smaller religious groups.

"The American religious economy is like a marketplace -- very dynamic, very competitive," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum. "Everyone is losing, everyone is gaining. There are net winners and losers, but no one can stand still. Those groups that are losing significant numbers have to recoup them to stay vibrant."

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.

More than one-quarter of American adults have left the faith of their childhood for another religion or no religion at all, the survey found. Factoring in moves from one stream or denomination of Protestantism to another, the number rises to 44 percent.

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

"In the past, certain religions had a real holding power, where people from one generation to the next would stay," said Penn State University sociologist Roger Finke, who consulted in the survey planning. "Right now, there is a dropping confidence in organized religion, especially in the traditional religious forms."

Lugo said the 44 percent figure is "a very conservative estimate," and more research is planned to determine the causes.

"It does seem in keeping with the high tolerance among Americans for change," Lugo said. "People move a lot, people change jobs a lot. It's a very fluid society."

The religious demographic benefiting the most from this religious churn is those who claim no religious affiliation. People moving into that category outnumber those moving out of it by a three-to-one margin.

The majority of the unaffiliated -- 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.
[size=4]
[font="Arial Black"]The Roman Catholic Church has lost more members than any faith tradition because of affiliation swapping, the survey found. 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.[/font][/size]

The share of the population that identifies as Catholic, however, has remained fairly stable in recent decades thanks to an influx of immigrant Catholics, mostly from Latin America. Nearly half of all Catholics under 30 are Hispanic, the survey found.

On the Protestant side, changes in affiliation are swelling the ranks of nondenominational churches, while Baptist and Methodist traditions are showing net losses.

Many Americans have vague denominational ties at best. People who call themselves "just a Protestant," in fact, account for nearly 10 percent of all Protestants.

Although evangelical churches strive to win new Christian believers from the "unchurched," the survey found most converts to evangelical churches were raised Protestant.

Hindus claimed the highest retention of childhood members, at 84 percent. The group with the worst retention is one of the fastest growing -- Jehovah's Witnesses. Only 37 percent of those raised in the sect known for door-to-door proselytizing said they remain members.

Among other findings involving smaller religious groups, more than half of American Buddhists surveyed were white, and most Buddhists were converts.

More people in the survey pool identified themselves as Buddhist than Muslim, although both populations were small -- less than 1 percent of the total population. By contrast, Jews accounted for 1.7 percent of the overall population.

The self-identified Buddhists -- 0.7 percent of those surveyed -- illustrate a core challenge to estimating religious affiliation: What does affiliation mean?

It's unclear whether people who called themselves Buddhists did so because they practice yoga or meditation, for instance, or claim affiliation with a Buddhist institution.

The report does not project membership figures for religious groups, in part because the survey is not as authoritative as a census and didn't count children, Lugo said. The U.S. Census does not ask questions on religion. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend[/quote]



You better believe I stand up and cheer and praise God when someone comes out of a false religion: Catholic or otherwise.. There is no greater wall between salvation/God then a false religion. The heart of a "religious cultist" is actually harder towards the gospel then a seeking secularist. Seared consciences and cults go hand in hand.

Their religion, their TEAM CATHOLIC {or Mormon name your cult} gets first billing, so even if there is an event to praise false religions, Jesus Christ is pushed way back in terms of priorities.

[u]No one wants to admit that he is a helpless sinner, 100% dependant on the work of Jesus Christ for his own salvation, and utterly useless to do anything to affect his salvation? Where is the pride in that? [/u]

[Justin86]

[quote name='Budge' post='1562196' date='Jun 7 2008, 11:54 PM'][u]No one wants to admit that he is a helpless sinner, 100% dependant on the work of Jesus Christ for his own salvation, and utterly useless to do anything to affect his salvation? Where is the pride in that? [/u][/quote]
We Catholics acknowledge our sin more than any other Christian group out there. It is we that believe even after we are forgiven by Christ for our sins through his grace alone that we can commit sins that if not forgiven by Him through the means that He set up (the Confessional) we will be damned to Hell. You are the one with the pride problem that thinks he can say one, quick, convenient prayer and all past and present sins are/will be forgiven.

Peace...

[Jnorm888]

Most of it has to do with secularism, and a lack of proper catechesis, if any t all. But this is a problem in every group.




JNORM888

[Winchester]

I've never kept track. There are so many who have learned our devilish secrets and fled to the open arms of real Christians. Me, I like the devilish secrets, so I'm staying.

[Budge]

[quote]Me, I like the devilish secrets, so I'm staying.[/quote]

Yes, one can tell.

[prose]

Hoyl Cow. Budge is back.

[Budge]

Now, Do Not Fall Down the Stairs!



LOL

[Justin86]

Only God is holy. A cow is just milk and a piece of meat.

[Winchester]

In Hawaii, a cow can also be a longtime companion, with health and tax benefits.

[Justin86]

[quote name='Winchester' post='1562400' date='Jun 8 2008, 01:17 AM']In Hawaii, a cow can also be a longtime companion, with health and tax benefits.[/quote]
Could a cow be considered one's wife in Hawaii?

[Winchester]

Yes, but "longtime companion" is funnier.

[dairygirl4u2c]

i would have guessed there are more excatholics than merely ten percent. probably depends on how the polls are taken.

they have more leave, but only cause they have more than anyone else to begin with. 25% of christisns in teh US are catholics. the other christians are wide and varying. as a percentage, i bet lutherans for example have just as much turnover, as prots are known for church skipping, it's just that 20% of a million luterhans or whatever, is a lot less than 10% of a fourth of christianity in the US. just as an example.

Edited June 7, 2008 by dairygirl4u2c

[Justin86]

Once again, another unreadable post by the master of the art form!

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='dairygirl4u2c' post='1562534' date='Jun 7 2008, 05:55 PM']they have more leave, but only cause they have more than anyone else to begin with.[/quote]
That's what I was thinking - that there is a higher number of ex-Catholics (unfortunately) due to the Catholic Church being the single largest group (as opposed to Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, etc., and not all Protestants lumped together).

[ReinnieR]

[quote name='Budge' post='1562196' date='Jun 7 2008, 08:54 AM'][i]Sure some have left to be secularists and other religions and there are the Proto Prots and those afraid to leave because of family pressures, but many heed the call of the Holy Spirit once they are born again and GET out as I did after I was born again, realizing Rome's false doctrines and huge role they were playing in the formation of the antichrist's one world religion.

Actually there is more respect to be had for someone who takes the time to examine their beliefs, and own them rather then someone who just goes to a church because Mom and Dad did, and never examines anything. Tjat applies even to being a Christian. There are some who do truly convert from Christian parents to be a Christian, but there are many who do not. Many stay Catholics {etc etc} because "that is what they were raised". And there isnt just such a thing as cultural Catholics but cultural Protestants and others as well.

This survey is interesting because it has found that EX-CATHOLICS ARE THE BIGGEST GROUP, but I already suspected that.[/i]
You better believe I stand up and cheer and praise God when someone comes out of a false religion: Catholic or otherwise.. There is no greater wall between salvation/God then a false religion. The heart of a "religious cultist" is actually harder towards the gospel then a seeking secularist. Seared consciences and cults go hand in hand.

Their religion, their TEAM CATHOLIC {or Mormon name your cult} gets first billing, so even if there is an event to praise false religions, Jesus Christ is pushed way back in terms of priorities.

[u]No one wants to admit that he is a helpless sinner, 100% dependant on the work of Jesus Christ for his own salvation, and utterly useless to do anything to affect his salvation? Where is the pride in that? [/u][/quote]



i missed you

didn't you post this already???