That's still a lot of Christians

A study shows that the number of Americans identifying themselves as Christians is markedly down in the past 20 years.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/09/us.religion.less.christian/index.html

Is anyone else as stunned as I am that the number is still that high? In your world, are Christians the majority? Are we, because of our careers, just naturally exposed to a more cynical culture?

I don't personally know anyone who is more religious than his/her parents, and I know many people with religious parents who have no interest. If I were to go by my observations, religious America is on a severe decline. Am I wrong?

 

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/67680/

It is on the politics board though, and I know only the brave few hang out there.

 

You couldn't pay me enough to brave that storm.

Don't tell them this is here. Maybe we can have a civil discussion.

 

It's been civil there. Mostly a group of us bitching about the Northwest not being the most godless part of the country anymore.

 

I will put our godlessness up against anyone's!

 

Vermont's at like 34 percent Godless! Hard to battle that

 

Now that I'm the one dragging kids to church, I give my parents a hard time about their sudden U-turn on the church attendance thing.

My Mom THEN: I don't care if you have a cold. The least you can do is give one hour a week to the Lord.

My Mom NOW: Oh, your father and I don't like the new pastor. And we're always busy on Sunday morning.

 

i still think washington and oregon kick ass in church attendance, or the lack thereof.

 

Polls are interesting things. Depending on how they are structured, they can say just about anything.

I suspect the number of people who identify themselves as Christian includes many people who do casually. Maybe they attend church twice a year, believe in the existence of God and live a decent moral life.

It's like taking a poll saying "Are you a football fan?" Well, there are casual fans and there are diehards. There are those who will watch the Super Bowl and those who plan their schedule around 8-9 games per weekend (Thursday-Monday) and wouldn't skip one come hell or high water. And a lot of folks who fall somewhere in between on that spectrum.

While I would agree that the number of people who place a high priority on their faith may have dropped some in recent years, the US is still quite religious. It will be interesting to see what effect a major depression or other crisis has, as well.

I no longer consider the US to be a "Christian nation" because it's behavior and morals (or lack of such) mock God and to call oneself a "Christian nation" and then totally disregard Christian teaching seems to be the height of hypocrisy.

 

Having lived in both, I admit that really good churches seem fewer and further in between than in other places where I have lived. They still exist, to be sure, and there are people who love God with all of their hearts. But it's not as ingrained in the culture as some other locations.

 

i blame the nfl. games start at 10 a.m. out here.

 

I remember interviewing a former Seattle mayor who was very proud of an exchange he had at a breakfast many years ago:

Billy Graham: I hear your state has the lowest church attendance in the nation.

Mayor: Well, God has given us so much else to do ...