Pew U.S. Religious Landscape Survey

Originally Discussed April 8th, 2010

Interesting statistics about American population:

• 1.7% Jewish
• 0.6% Muslim
• 78.4 % Christian
• 6.1% Unaffiliated
• 
  
• The Millenial Generation (18-29 yr.old), is less religious than older generations, but a rising trend among this generation of remaining traditional.

• Prayer frequency goes down when incomes rise

• Men more likely to have no religious affiliation

• 40% of couples married to person of a different faith

• Hindus and Mormons most likely to marry within their faith

• The Midwest is most representative of the total population

• West has the most unaffiliated populations

• 15% of population prays every day (including the Unaffiliated)

1. Maybe this is related to the amount of Christians who are taught
to be in prayer all the time
2. All Abrahamic faiths have prayers before meals and times they can
ask for “anything.”
xiii. Changes in affliations over time eg. 50 years ago Lutherans had strong denominational loyalty to the point where they did not call themselves Christians. Today that affiliation is not as strong.

Questions

• How do you define who is “practicing” their stated religion?

• Will encouraging more people to marry within their faith, will it spawn more fundamentalism by having people closed off to other beliefs?

• How do you define what is and isn’t praying?