- Religion in America is "very diverse and extremely fluid." (Pew)
- More than one-quarter of American adults have left their childhood faith for another religion or no religion at all. (Pew)
- In youth 18-24, one-quarter say they're not affiliated with any paritcular religion. (Pew)
- Protestants now have barely 51% of affiliates in the United States. The US is "on the verge of becoming a minority protestant country." (Pew)
- Catholics have lost the greatest number to affilation changes. (Pew)
- Immigrants are disproportionately non-Christian, from religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. (Pew)
- Orthodoxy makes up 0.6% of Americans, Jehova's Witnesses make up 0.7% , Mormons have 1.7%, and other Chrisitan Groups have 0.3%, comparatively large portions. (Pew)
- American religiosity is characterized by "constant movement", religious groups simultaneously ganing and losing adherants. (Pew)
- People moving into the "unaffiliated" group outnumber those moving out three-to-one. Despite having one of the lowest retention rates, it has grown. (Pew)
- Protestant adherents are typically older while unaffiliate or pluralistic religions are typically younger. 62% of Americans 70 ad over are Protestant while only 43% of Americas aged 18-29. 25% of 18-29 year-olds say they are unaffiliated with any religion as opposed to only 8% of those 70 or older. Roughly half of the mainline protestant and Jewish chures are over 50 years old. "If these generational patterns persis, recent declienes in the number of Protestants and grow in the size of the unaffiliated popultion may continue." (Pew)
- Muslims account for 0.6% of the US adult population. Hindus account for 0.4%. (Pew)
- Nearly have of Hindus and one-third of Jews in the US have obtained post-graduate education as opposed to one tenth of the overall population. (Pew)
- Buddhism in the US is primarily non-immigrants, whites, and converts. Three quarters of Buddhists describe themselves as converts. (Pew)
- Since 1990, two years after the release of The Last Temptation of Christ, Christian population has incrased from around 174,000,000 to around 228,000,000, a 34% increase. Other religions, however, hae gone from 58,530,000 to around 87,960,000 adherents, a 44% increase. (US Census) Muslim adherents have increased from 527,000 to 1,349,000, a 155% increase. Buddhist have increased from 404,000 to 1,189,000, a 194% increase. Hindus have increased from 227,000 to 582,000, though from 2000 decreased from 766,000, still a 156% overall increase. Pagans, from 2000, have increaesd 140,000 to 340,000, a 142% increase. Spiritualists have increased from 116,000 to 426,000, a 267% increase. And Wiccans, since 1990, have increased a whopping 4275% from 8,000 to 342,000. In non-specified religion category, atheists have gone from 902,000 in 2000 to 1,621,000 in 2010, a 79% increase. Agnostics, from 1,186,000 in 1990 to 1,975,000, a 67% increase. Humanists, from 29,000 to 90,000, a 210% increase. And those who described themselves as having no religion from 13,116,000 to 30,427,000, a 131% increase. Overall, while Christianity is stagnating and barely increasing with the population inflation, non-Christian religions are blooming in the diverse and tolerant political culture offered by the states.
Based on these statistics, is it any wonder why the conservative churches are afraid of the rising threat of alternative world religions? Is it any wonder Mattson saw gnosticism in Noah when no real gnostic influences existed? Is it any wonder why the conservative churches as a whole are lashing out at anything that even remotely stinks of other world religions, becoming ever closer to and protective of their treasured Scriptures?