Secularization
razib | January 24, 2010Barry Kosmin at CUNY has published the results of three surveys of American religion since 1990. These "American Religious Identification Surveys" (ARIS) were done in 1990, another in 2001, and finally in 2008. One of the major findings of the ARIS has been the rise of those who avow "No Religion". Looking through the data it is also clear that aggregating nationally understates some of the local changes. In 1990 47% Vermonters were non-Catholic Christians (i.e., Protestants). In 2008 29% were. In 1990 13% of Vermonters had No Religion. In 2008 34% of Vermonters had No Religion! In fact, No…
razib | April 14, 2009I've suggested before that the idea of Turkey entering the EU is a farce. One could make the economic case that it is far too large and poor to be absorbed easily (unlike the Eastern European nations Turkey is nearly as populous as Germany). But there is a strong cultural case too. Turkey is a very religious nation in a European context. It is more Creationist than the United States. Though Turkey is secular for a Muslim nation, it is not secularfor a European nation. But many people seem to be intent on accusing Europeans of racism or discrimination based on their evident disinclination to…
razib | April 12, 2009Gallup has a new report up, This Easter, Smaller Percentage of Americans Are Christian, which is rather self-explanatory. These data aren't surprising, other surveys report the same general finding. Here's an interesting chart with some long term trends:
I want to point to the numbers for Catholicism. In the early 1990s I remember reading popular press accounts about how Catholicism would become the dominant religion of the United States in the early decades of the 20th century because of immigration. That doesn't seem like it's panning out. Why? The American Religious Identification…