03-03-2008, 09:49 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-"Viren"+-->QUOTE("Viren")<!--QuoteEBegin-->Was watching Real time with Bill Maher and heard Maher state an interesting statistic. <b>He didn't attribute source or study</b> - though I'd be most interested if anyone can find it.
He stated that of all the religions a person person most retentive of his faith/religion is a Hindu (84% chances that he/she'll stay Hindu his/her whole life). Least was Jevoha's witness (some 30%+ chances).
<!--emo&:rock--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rock.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='rock.gif' /><!--endemo--><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Viren the source is the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
Pew Forum: U.S. Religious Landscape Survey Resources
*******
<b>Survey: U.S. religious landscape in flux - MSN</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Feb. 25: <i>A new Pew survey reveals that 44 percent of American adults have either switched religious affiliation or dropped any connection to a specific religious tradition. NBC's Chris Jansing reports.</i>
DENVER - 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.
The study released Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life is unusual for its 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 â mainline Protestant churches are in decline, non-denominational churches are gaining and the ranks of the unaffiliated are growing â 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."
78 percent Christian
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 â 12 percent of the overall population â 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.
Affiliation swapping
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.
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.
Â
Although evangelical churches strive to win new Christian believers from the "unchurched," the survey found most converts to evangelical churches were raised Protestant.
<b>Hindus claimed the highest retention of childhood members, at 84 percent</b>. The group with the worst retention is one of the fastest growing â 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 â less than 1 percent of the total population. By contrast, Jews accounted for 1.7 percent of the overall population.
The self-identified Buddhists â 0.7 percent of those surveyed â illustrate a core challenge to estimating religious affiliation: What does affiliation mean?
<b>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.</b> {When did Yoga become Buddhist?}Â <!--emo&:unsure:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='unsure.gif' /><!--endemo-->Â
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.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
******
Some importants points from the survey regarding Hindus from the report. This by posted by G Subramaniam on bharat-rakshak forum.
From hindu-blog
<b>Education</b>
Nearly Half of the Hindus is United States have obtained post graduated education.
Only 4% of Hindus have education less than High School.
12% High School Grade.
10% some college.
26% college graduate.
43% Post Graduate.
<b>Income</b>
High education the reason for high income levels in Hindus.
9% of Hindus earn less than $30,000 annually.
10% of Hindus earn between $30,000 and $49,999 annually.
15% of Hindus earn between $50,000 and $74,999 annually.
22% of Hindus earn between $75,000 and $99,999 annually.
43% of Hindus earn more than $100,000 annually.
<b>Marital Status</b>
90% of the Hindus prefer to be married to someone of the same religion.
79% of the Hindus are mostly likely married.
0% living with partner.
5% divorced.
2% widowed.
14% never married.
<b>Children at Home</b>
52% of Hindus have no Children.
21% have one child.
24% have two children.
2% have three children.
1% have four or more children.
<b>Gender</b>
61% of Hindus in United States are male.
39% Female.
<b>Race and Ethnicity</b>
The Hindu population in United States consists of 88% Asian.
1% Black.
5% White.
4% mixed/other
2% Latino.
<b>Age</b>
18% of Hindus are in the age group of 18-29.
58% in the age group of 30-49.
19% in the age group of 50-64.
5% in the age group of 65+
<b>Region in United States</b>
29% of Hindus live in Northeast
13% Midwest.
32% South.
26% West
<!--QuoteBegin-"Viren"+-->QUOTE("Viren")<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->perhaps an NRI, wants to make some good pro-Hindu movies, then?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Without big budget, big name stars, few made up romance scenes around flora/fauna and song/dance routine, they end up as documentaries. How many here watched say Sardar Patel(Paresh Rawal staring) or Veer Savarkar etc.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The film Sardar Patel has been shown on DD1 only once, that too many years back and since then has not been shown, while the film on gandhi are always shown every year on the birthday of m.k.gandhi.
The problem is not getting the films made but of showing them on public television. Most of the channels are controlled by commies who hate anything remotely indian or hindu.
He stated that of all the religions a person person most retentive of his faith/religion is a Hindu (84% chances that he/she'll stay Hindu his/her whole life). Least was Jevoha's witness (some 30%+ chances).
<!--emo&:rock--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rock.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='rock.gif' /><!--endemo--><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Viren the source is the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
Pew Forum: U.S. Religious Landscape Survey Resources
*******
<b>Survey: U.S. religious landscape in flux - MSN</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Feb. 25: <i>A new Pew survey reveals that 44 percent of American adults have either switched religious affiliation or dropped any connection to a specific religious tradition. NBC's Chris Jansing reports.</i>
DENVER - 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.
The study released Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life is unusual for its 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 â mainline Protestant churches are in decline, non-denominational churches are gaining and the ranks of the unaffiliated are growing â 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."
78 percent Christian
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 â 12 percent of the overall population â 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.
Affiliation swapping
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.
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.
Â
Although evangelical churches strive to win new Christian believers from the "unchurched," the survey found most converts to evangelical churches were raised Protestant.
<b>Hindus claimed the highest retention of childhood members, at 84 percent</b>. The group with the worst retention is one of the fastest growing â 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 â less than 1 percent of the total population. By contrast, Jews accounted for 1.7 percent of the overall population.
The self-identified Buddhists â 0.7 percent of those surveyed â illustrate a core challenge to estimating religious affiliation: What does affiliation mean?
<b>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.</b> {When did Yoga become Buddhist?}Â <!--emo&:unsure:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='unsure.gif' /><!--endemo-->Â
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.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
******
Some importants points from the survey regarding Hindus from the report. This by posted by G Subramaniam on bharat-rakshak forum.
From hindu-blog
<b>Education</b>
Nearly Half of the Hindus is United States have obtained post graduated education.
Only 4% of Hindus have education less than High School.
12% High School Grade.
10% some college.
26% college graduate.
43% Post Graduate.
<b>Income</b>
High education the reason for high income levels in Hindus.
9% of Hindus earn less than $30,000 annually.
10% of Hindus earn between $30,000 and $49,999 annually.
15% of Hindus earn between $50,000 and $74,999 annually.
22% of Hindus earn between $75,000 and $99,999 annually.
43% of Hindus earn more than $100,000 annually.
<b>Marital Status</b>
90% of the Hindus prefer to be married to someone of the same religion.
79% of the Hindus are mostly likely married.
0% living with partner.
5% divorced.
2% widowed.
14% never married.
<b>Children at Home</b>
52% of Hindus have no Children.
21% have one child.
24% have two children.
2% have three children.
1% have four or more children.
<b>Gender</b>
61% of Hindus in United States are male.
39% Female.
<b>Race and Ethnicity</b>
The Hindu population in United States consists of 88% Asian.
1% Black.
5% White.
4% mixed/other
2% Latino.
<b>Age</b>
18% of Hindus are in the age group of 18-29.
58% in the age group of 30-49.
19% in the age group of 50-64.
5% in the age group of 65+
<b>Region in United States</b>
29% of Hindus live in Northeast
13% Midwest.
32% South.
26% West
<!--QuoteBegin-"Viren"+-->QUOTE("Viren")<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->perhaps an NRI, wants to make some good pro-Hindu movies, then?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Without big budget, big name stars, few made up romance scenes around flora/fauna and song/dance routine, they end up as documentaries. How many here watched say Sardar Patel(Paresh Rawal staring) or Veer Savarkar etc.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The film Sardar Patel has been shown on DD1 only once, that too many years back and since then has not been shown, while the film on gandhi are always shown every year on the birthday of m.k.gandhi.
The problem is not getting the films made but of showing them on public television. Most of the channels are controlled by commies who hate anything remotely indian or hindu.