I heard a similar poll recently, except they added that only about ten percent of Christians admit to tithing, and only one out of those three actually do it.

Life is messy.  I think when people come to Christ believing it will stop being messy, well it sets them up for failure.  They moan "Why me?"  When everything about Christ says He will bare our burdens, but nothing says we won't still have to walk them.

It is difficult to reconcile pain with transformation.  I have asked God in the past, "Why can't you fix this?  Why can't you change this part of me that causes so many problems?  You are God afterall and can do it with a thought!  You are my Father and yet even as a flawed human parent, I wouldn't allow this to be in my child if I had the power to stop it!"

hahahahahahaha

Then after I get through it I usually see EXACTLY why he didn't remove it, or took His time removing it.  There are some lessons, some things about God, I just have to learn myself.  Yes He could do that for me, but when I do it on my own, it is more precious in His sight.

 

Actually, I think that the often cited (by churches and religious leaders) poll was an ARIS poll conducted in 1990 and the follow up poll in 2001 is almost never cited.

In 1990, 86% said they were religious. (You made a typo when you said 81%.) Eleven years later, that number had declined to under 77%. Thats a pretty significent decline of over 10%.

In 1990, 81% said that they were Christain (although not necessarily affiliated with a church); by 2001 this number had decreased to 76.5%.

The fastest growing religion in America (in terms of percentage) is Wicca or neo-paganism. The number of respondents increased from 8,000 to 134,000.

Based on poll data gathered in 2002, the percentage of Protestants (as defined by affiliation with a Protestant church) was 52% and declining. Sometime between 2004 and now, it was expected that this number would fall below 50%, meaning that the US would no longer have a Protestant majority.

Here are some sources for you or anyone else interested in religion in America:

Religous Tolerence website with poll data: Link

PollingReport.com on Religion: Link

There are some caveats to this information. For example, the percentage of people that identify themselves as belonging to a church or synagogue, is MUCH lower than the percentage of people that said that they attended services in the last week. (66% said they belonged, 43% said that they went.)

When asked "Do you believe that religion can answer all or most of today's problems, or that religion is largely old-fashioned and out of date?" only 59% said yes, down from an all-time high of 82% in 1957. 45% of those surveyed said the US was a secular nation, as opposed to Christian or a Biblical nation.

I personally believe that the number of people that report themselves as Muslim is seriously understated. I would guess that this is in the wake of 9/11 and current events. Here is the US Governments site on Muslim Life in America (formerly "Islam in America," the government changed the title):
Link

There are over 1200 mosques in America, half of them built in the last 20 years. About 1/4 of Muslims in America are converts. Link

About 2 million Muslims are affiliated with a mosque.

There is little doubt that Christianity is declining in America and non-Christian religions are growing. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this is necessarily a GOOD thing, but it is an observable, measureable trend. I live in the Midwest, and you can see the number of mosques growing. Christian congregations continue to try to put a "good face" on things, while privately leaders complain of declining attendance.

There is little doubt that Christianity is declining in America and non-Christian religions are growing.

I don't doubt this at all.  The way I read scripture, this will continue to happen.  Everything I read about the end times in scripture makes it apparent there will come a time when Christianity will NOT be tolerated.  The world will move to the "all paths lead to God" religion.  And any faith that says different will be squashed.

So many American Christians talk about the end times and how America will act/deal with it/etc.  But I am not so certain America will be part of the mix.  I am sure the Romans believed they would be a big part of the world order forever, and yet they aren't.  I am not sure America will survive, as we know her, to be a large participant in the end times.

So I am not shocked to hear our numbers are dwindling.  And I see the direct correlation in what our society allows as acceptable, good, or politically correct.

 

IN answer to your question of the 14%, I think they are the honest ones.  Of the 95% (using your figures for the moment instead of Larry's), I suspect that half dont practice a religion, so the 14% are being more honest than the other 30+% that proclaim a belief in God, and say they are religious as well.

Dr.

I tend to agree with ya.

I heard a similar poll recently, except they added that only about ten percent of Christians admit to tithing, and only one out of those three actually do it.

Hahahah this is very interesting to me because of the work I'm in. For years we've noticed the 7th Day Adventists are the best givers. On the other hand guess who the poorest givers are? Catholics. This is so predictible. They say you can tell alot about a person by the books on their shelf and by looking into their checkbook. Think about it, it's true.

In 1990, 86% said they were religious. (You made a typo when you said 81%.)

You might be right but I got these figures from my Pastor. But it's not really the point. We don't want to lose the point here. I would say my Pastor's POV is that it's a narrow path to go a certain way, and what we are seeing by the figures is showing this to be true.

Thanks for all the links Larry. You've done your HW here.

I don't doubt this at all. The way I read scripture, this will continue to happen. Everything I read about the end times in scripture makes it apparent there will come a time when Christianity will NOT be tolerated. The world will move to the "all paths lead to God" religion.

This is exactly right. Jesus even said..."When I return, will I even find faith on the earth?" I like to study prophecy and everything is moving according to plan. I'm not surprised at all. I've been reading all about this since I was 13 when it wasn't even close to making sense like it is now.

So many American Christians talk about the end times and how America will act/deal with it/etc. But I am not so certain America will be part of the mix

I've believed for a long time that we will be either taken out or taken over. By the looks of it and what Larry wrote, I'm thinking taken over.

There is little doubt that Christianity is declining in America and non-Christian religions are growing. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this is necessarily a GOOD thing, but it is an observable, measureable trend

I agree, We are living in a post-Christian nation now. I believe we've lost our way. It's only a matter of time before we realize this as a whole.

So, KFC, if this were a Christian nation, what would that mean? How would a Christian government deal with diversity of religious belief? Would non-Christians be asked, as they once were, to pray Christian prayers in school? And which "Christian" sect of the thousands (one seems to pop up every few seconds) would lead the way?

To me, Christian fundamentalism isn't very far from Islamic fundamentalism. Christians burned people at the stake just a couple of hundred years ago, advocated slavery 150 years ago, worked hard against women's sufferage, hung black people only a few decades ago, and have gone about shooting doctors and bombing abortion centers in the last couple of decades.

My hope is that people are moving away from such bigoted, poisonous views. We'll see.

Be well.

To me, Christian fundamentalism isn't very far from Islamic fundamentalism. Christians burned people at the stake just a couple of hundred years ago, advocated slavery 150 years ago, worked hard against women's sufferage, hung black people only a few decades ago, and have gone about shooting doctors and bombing abortion centers in the last couple of decades.

These were not Christians. A Christian follows Christ. Show me where Christ told any to burn others at the stake. Show me where Christ did not elevate women. Show me where Jesus would have condone abortion killings, either side I may add.

Jesus said, people will know you by your fruits. A good tree bears good fruit. The fruit of the spirit according to him was......love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, self control,

That's the mark of a true Christian. We must test the spirits. Not all who call themselves Christian are.