The Demographics Of Religion. How Does “Your” Religion Stack Up?

There are many trends in religion today, these trends give us all an identity, as to who we are and what we believe. There is an ongoing decline in religion attendance in the last three decades which may be due to a problem in identifying with our clergy and this causes us to question our loyalty to this church.  All religions have their strengths and weaknesses and some really stand out and dominate them all. Here we’re going to compare the 11 major religions in the U.S. So lets take a look at the demographics of your religion and compare them to others as we window shop for religions.

 

The Jehovah’s Witness – Predominantly a southern religion which is dominated by women at 60%, more so then any other religion. It also reports the second lowest average income of any religion second only to southern black churches. But this may be due to the fact that they are the least educated on average of any other religious demographic, only 6% of them have ever graduated from any college.

When it comes to regulating the beliefs of the flock Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in god at 93%, more so then any other religion. Evangelicals, Mormons and Black Churches tie for second at 90%. They also find their religion to be more important in their lives then any other religion at 86% saying it’s the most important thing in their lives. And this also includes church attendance as they participate in services more so then any other religion. Jehovah’s Witnesses are also the religion which has the highest rate of prayer, and claim to have more prayers answered then any other religion at the rate of 36%. They also believe in only one way to interpret their gospel at 77% by leaps and bounds higher then any other religion on the planet which include the belief that (there is only one way to get to heaven, through their gospel) at 80%, much higher then Mormons, who come in second place at 57%.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses seem to refrain from politics more so then any other religion in fact 61% have no political affiliation what so ever, far and away from the 2nd highest demographic which are the Muslims at 16%. Though they do have some views such as abortion, which 52% of them think it should be illegal in all cases, which is much higher then the second highest religion, the Evangelicals at only 25%. At 76% Jehovah’s Witnesses are also predominantly against homosexuals, more so then any other religion. And politically wish to stop focusing on foreign affairs as well, more so then any other religion.

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Evangelicals – You may have seen them getting involved in politics trying to merge church and state. You may see them on TV preaching to the world via satellite, or on the news in the middle of a scandal, and though they give themselves a terrible image, they are actually quite a normal religion with traditional values. They believe in a literal interpretation of the bible second only to Black Churches. Their only extremism is involving themselves in politics being predominantly Republican/conservative, second only to Mormons. And the numbers indicate a third strongest hold the leaders have on the minds of the flock.

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Mainline Churches – Residing predominantly in the south, they have the second highest percentage of white – non Hispanics at 91%. And though the clergy do tend to share the same views as the Evangelicals they do not have nearly the hold on minds of their flock, who tend to be more progressive socially in their views. Essentially an Evangelical church that is much more casual.

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Historically Black Churches – This religious group “shares” the highest percentage of females in the group at 60% and has the lowest report of income of any religious affiliation at 47% making less then $30,000 per year. Which may be due to having the second lowest rate of college graduates at only 11%. Less then 1/3 are married couples which is by far lower then any other religion.

With a high attendance and prayer rate, these people find their religion to be very important to their lives and are in the top three in these categories. At 66% they are predominantly democratic affiliation. 72% want a bigger government with more social services, higher then any other religion. And these churches predominantly want to end our roles in world affairs, to focus more at home, more so then any other religion at 68%.

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Catholics – A very old religion that is showing all the signs of becoming stale in the hearts of the flock, they tend to rank quite low in every category concerning faith, prayer, attendance, and importance, though it is still in the running, they may be at a crossroads now with their new Pope, they will either get better or die out, time will tell. Politically and in every other way, they tend to be quite diversified which is a good indication their leaders either do not try to dictate their thoughts or they simply have no sway with them.

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Mormons –  There are some things Mormons do very well. Mormons have a higher concentration of their flock in one specific area of the U.S. then any other religion, (surprise surprise) at 76% living in the western U.S. they tend to stick together. They also have the 2nd highest rate of marriages of any Christian faith, 71% are married couples. 9% have 4 or more children, much higher then any other religion, Muslims come in second at 6%. One problem area they have is a fairly split belief that (A), At 57% ,Their religion is the one true religion which leads one to eternal life. And (B) people of other religions can gain eternal glory as well. 70% list themselves as republican more so then any other religion by far, and follow traditional republican values and beliefs.

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Orthodox – If I could draw a line right through the middle of all the demographics of religion, Orthodox would run right on that line, it’s demographics are very similar to Catholics and is also showing the signs of age, it desperately needs a make over to spark new life into it. They do not tend to sway in any direction, they are very diversified in all their social views and beliefs, even about God.

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Jews – Predominant in the north-east of the U.S, Jews have the highest concentration of white people of any religion at 95%. They are also the wealthiest of any other faith, with 46% of them reporting an income of over $100,000 per year. This may also be due to the fact that they have the second highest percentage of post graduates at 35%, second only to the Hindus which are at a mind boggling 48%. Jews have the highest rate of having no children of any religion at 72%.

Only 41% of Jews say they believe in God absolutely, they are the second lowest, second only to Buddhists at 39%.  Only 31% say religion is important to them, and rarely attend church services 75% report only going once or twice per year or have never been ever. They tend to pray the least in the survey, and have reported a lower rate of answers to those prayers then any other group. At 53% they predominantly believe their scriptures were written by man and not to be taken literally. More then any other group the Jews believe any religion can get you to heaven, only 5% believe their faith is the only path to heaven.

Politically, though the Jews make the most money they predominantly lean democratic (politically). And you would think they more then anyone would be against homosexuality that is not true, in fact only 15% say they are against homosexuality. And are active in trying to separate church and state.

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Muslims – Having the youngest fellowship Muslims are another group which is very diversified politically, and socially. With their beliefs, education, income, they follow the trends of the social climate. But there is one area that they do tend to be very opinionated about and that is homosexuality, 61% say they are against it, not bad considering all things and certainly not the most extreme in that category. But for the amount of crap they take from conservative Christians, they really don’t seem to deserve the extreme label they have been given.

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Buddhists – You would think that Buddhists would be predominantly Asian even in the U.S. but that is not true, in fact only 32% of their membership in the U.S. is Asian, 53% are White. Buddhists are well educated with the third highest rate of post graduate degrees at 26%. They have the highest rate of supporting homosexual acceptance as well, more then any other religion in our group with 82% believing it should be accepted by society.

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Hindus – Unlike Buddhists, Hindus in the U.S. are predominantly Asian at 88%. They have the second highest income with 43% reporting an income of over $100,000 per year. Hindus are the most educated religion with 48% holding post graduate degrees. Hindus also have the highest rate of marriage at 79% actively married. And the only religion to report 0% in having a live in partner. Though they seem to be very disciplined they tend to not hold to their faith as so many others do. They have the highest rate of followers who believe there are many paths to heaven not just theirs at 89%, and very similar numbers to the Jews. Hindus tend to be predominantly democratic and follow those political values.

 

 

 (Survey done by PewResearch; Religion and Public Life Project)