Recently came across an article today that showed a fragment of the U.S. population don’t believe in religion.
The Roman Catholic population has been shifting out of the Northeast to the Southwest.
Here are some numbers -
15% of people said “they had no religion”. Vermont claiming to be the highest at 34%.
36% adult self-identified Catholics (down from 43% in 1990).
Catholics grew in CA, TX and FL – largely due to Latino immigration.
In 2008, Christians comprised 76 percent of U.S. adults, compared to about 77 percent in 2001 and about 86 percent in 1990.
30% of married couples did not have a religious wedding ceremony.
27% of respondents said they did not want a religious funeral.
12% believe in higher God but not personal God.
But,
Catholics still are the largest religious grow at 57 million.
Evangelical or born-again Americans make up 34 % of all American adults and 45 % of all Christians and Catholics.
Pentecostals is steady since 1990 at 3.5 %
Mormon numbers also held steady over the period at 1.4 percent of the population
Well, numbers do speak volumes but they necessarily don’t speak for me! I am a Catholic and the role of Catholicism in family has occupied a prominent place for generations.
Being an Indian-Catholic it was always difficult to explain people (outside India) that Christianity is a respected religion in India.
I remember when I first migrated to the U.S., I used to work in Los Angeles. Some of my friends, co-workers were surprised that I was a Catholic and even more surprised to learn that there are Christians in India! They assumed that I was a Hindu – by default. Some were surprised to hear that India is a Hindu country but also the largest secular democratic country in the world with religious freedom. Ah! It was an eye-opener for many in the room.
Well, I educated my good ole’ friends about Christianity in India. Christianity came to India much before it spread to some of the predominantly Christian, nations of Europe. It was spread by Apostle Thomas in 52 A.D.
Anyway, back to our original topic “having religion or not having religion”.
03/09/09
Early morning I was driving to work; car’s radio was tuned to Sirius-XM’s CNN-HLN station. The newscaster was just about to close the topic of her morning conversation – the topic was “religion”. She ended the conversation by saying – she would never force her kids to choose a religion – they were free to choose any religion they want. Well, I have to disagree with that statement. There are many real life decisions when you come to rely on your parents for guidance and support i.e. when you are young and clueless. Choosing religion can be one of the decisions.
I remember the good old days when my mother used to force us to go church on Sundays and Holy-days and how it was most hated activity to do. Today, I am glad she forced us – she was a guide, guiding clueless kids to some place better.
Religion has played a greater role in my life. There have been rough patches but the transition out of the rough patches has been smooth by finding solace in prayer and church.
There is no need to be ashamed of being a Catholic…I am not. Yes, I do hear lot of noise on how the catholic church has mistreated and destroyed lives of many. I consider them bad apples and on every path of our life we will come across these types – they are not limited to one segment of the society. Someday they will have to answer to God. No bad deeds go unpunished; no good deeds go unrewarded.
Blaming church for everything is not justified. People seem to forget the contribution religion has made – schools, hospitals, shelters, orphanages etc. Guess, those things are taken for granted?
Primary purpose of the church (some call it “organized religion”) is to unite humanity into a divine relationship based on love with our creator – God. Based on my experience the church has the tendency to draw us into this love continually, socially and morally – through various means such as – Prayers, Church gatherings, Sacraments, or just by reading the word of God. The church continually asks God to renew us and keep us pure and holy. Being part of a religion provides us with a sense of pride and continual achievement, comfort and reassurance. It sets forth teaching about morality, ethics, charity, good works in motion for generations to come.
We all live in a world which is volatile but still organized – the early mornings, the late nights, our working habits, driving to work, taking kids to school, enjoying leisure, enjoying luxury etc. is all part of our organized lifestyle – they why reject “organized” religion?
This topic reminds me of an old friend who called herself “spiritual but nor religious”. She used to talk a lot about being spiritual and didn’t like church teachings and didn’t believe in an “organized” religion. Then a day came when she hit a rough patch – suddenly she turned to the Catholic Church for help! I was stunned but not surprised.
I am neither saint nor a pious person who is out to transform the world. I have my own drawbacks and limitations but my perception of religion has made me stronger, happier in my faith towards God and Jesus Christ. It has certainly taken time to find the true happiness.
Experience is the best teacher and it has certainly taught me to be religious and faithful and augmented my respect toward my religion i.e. Catholicism.
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-03-09-american-religion-ARIS_N.htm
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/03/09/number_of_ne_catholics_tumbles
