"Fastest Growing Church"? None of the Above

[_Equality]

New Pew Poll shows that Americans with no religious affiliation increases from 15% to 20% f the population in just five years.

Labeled “nones” because they claim either no religious preference or no religion at all, their ranks have hit 46 million people. Much of the growth is among young people — one in three U.S. adults under 30 are now considered nones. The report also found that the number of self-described atheists and agnostics has hit a peak — 13 million people, or 6 percent of the U.S. population. That’s a rise of 2 percentage points over five years.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/losing-our-religion-one-in-five-americans-are-now-nones/2012/10/09/60dfc2e4-1218-11e2-9a39-1f5a7f6fe945_story.html

The survey found that one-third of adults under 30 do not see themselves as members of any religion, compared to one in 10 among people 65 and older.

"Young people are also more likely to be nones than previous generations were at similar stages in their lives," said Smith.

"People are not looking for religion. They are not seekers," added Pew senior researcher Carey Funk. "When we asked people who describe their religion as 'nothing' whether they were looking for religion, only 10 percent said they were," she said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/0 ... 49598.html

Self-described atheists and agnostics have hit an all-time high in America of 13 million, which is like three times the number of Mormons in America. The religiously unaffiliated have grown from15% of the U.S. population to almost 20% in just five years. The U.S. population is just over 300 million, so 5% of that population represents about 15 million folks. The LDS Church has been around since 1830 and boasts that it is among the fastest growing religions in the world, a stone cut out of the mountain, etc. It has tens of thousands of missionares and spends millions upon millions of dollars trying to convert the world. And in five years, more people have joined the ranks of the unaffiliated in the U.S. alone than are even nominally associated with the LDS Church worldwide after 180 years of proselytizing. Mormon Moment? Or Unaffiliated Unction?

Over the last five years, while atheists, agnostics, and others with no religious affiliation have grown, Protestants, Catholics, and Evangelicals have declined. And Mormons? Flat-lined. Two percent of the population in each of the years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. The stone clunks forth.
http://www.pewforum.org/Unaffiliated/nones-on-the-rise.aspx

[_Sophocles]

Obligatory xkcd:

[_Themis]

New Pew Poll shows that Americans with no religious affiliation increases from 15% to 20% f the population in just five years.

Well don't they have a large missionary force that has been going around converting people for the last five years?

[_Bond James Bond]

I'm a proud um...none of the above. Excited to see the landscape as religious demographics change and religion hopefully loses its grip on America in the next fifty years.

[_Equality]

I'm a proud um...none of the above. Excited to see the landscape as religious demographics change and religion hopefully loses its grip on America in the next fifty years.

Indeed. Two data points really jump out at me in this survey. The first is that the young millennials (born between 1990-1994) have the highest rates of non-affiliation, atheism, and agnosticism. About 1/3 of young millennials are unaffiliated, compared to just 10% of those in the WWII generation. Second, just 10% of unaffiliated folks are searching for a religious home. If the nones were simply dissatisfied with their former religion, then they might be ripe pickings for missionary-oriented churches like the LDS Church. But they are, in the main, satisfied being unaffiliated. So it definitely looks like the trend away from religion is likely to continue.

[_son of Ishmael]

I wonder if this trend is also true with Latin America as well?

[_why me]

Over the last five years, while atheists, agnostics, and others with no religious affiliation have grown, Protestants, Catholics, and Evangelicals have declined. And Mormons? Flat-lined. Two percent of the population in each of the years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. The stone clunks forth.
http://www.pewforum.org/Unaffiliated/nones-on-the-rise.aspx

Flatlined is actually quite good for this day and age in America. And it is not surprising that the nones are doing well also. The secularization of american society is well underway. No surprise there. But the Mormons are holding steady and that is a surprise considering on exmormon boards there is a celebration that thousands are leaving the church every year. Perhaps that is the imagination working.

[_sansfoy]

Flatlined is actually quite good for this day and age in America. And it is not surprising that the nones are doing well also. The secularization of american society is well underway. No surprise there. But the Mormons are holding steady and that is a surprise considering on exmormon boards there is a celebration that thousands are leaving the church every year. Perhaps that is the imagination working.

Don't be too ambitious there, buddy. Two percent of America today, .2 percent of the world tomorrow. "Viva La Revolución!"

Slight downgrading of Joseph Smith's expectations, as per your signature: "I intend to lay a foundation that will revolutionize the whole world."

[_Racer]

HEARKEN O YE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH!!! THE CHURCH IS LIKE A MIGHTY STONE CARVED WITHOUT HANDS FROM A MOUNTAIN WHICH GROWS BIGGER AND BIGGER AS IT ROLLS DOWN THE... Oh wait, never mind I misspoke...

[_Equality]

Flatlined is actually quite good for this day and age in America. And it is not surprising that the nones are doing well also. The secularization of american society is well underway. No surprise there. But the Mormons are holding steady and that is a surprise considering on exmormon boards there is a celebration that thousands are leaving the church every year. Perhaps that is the imagination working.

Ah, yes, you are one of those mathophobes. Let's see, why me, if you can follow this. Let's say there are 6 million members on the rolls in the United States. Now let's say the church adds this year 100,000 U.S. members through birth or baptism. Now let's say 48,000 members of record die (the U.S. mortality rate is a little over 8 per 1000, so out of 6 million members about 48,000 will die annually, give-or-take). That leaves 52,000 net new additional members in the United States. If 52,0000 members leave the church, guess what, church growth will flatline. So, for the church to be adding hundreds of thousands of members each year, and only lose 8 per 1000 due to death, in order to not experience a growth in numbers, the church must be losing almost as many members to apostasy as it is adding through births and baptisms. The church's growth rate is flatlining because of a number of factors, one of which is the exodus of members. Obviously, the church's growth rate relative to the population (whether U.S. or world) could "flatline" if its combined birth rate/conversion rate is lower than the growth rate of the general population. but according to the LDS church, its combined birth/conversion rate is higher than the rate of growth of the general population. So how else can one explain the flatlining if not by pointing out that the church right now has a revolving door: missionaries and Mormon baby-makers bring them in the front door while a comparable number of people are running for the exits.

You might not recognize it as a problem, why me, but I guarantee the geezers at 50 East North Temple are aware of the problem and trying to figure out a solution. Unfortunately, Jesus is too busy helping Mitt Romney preparation for the next debate so has not had time to give his prophets any divine inspiration on how to combat all those wily smart people who don't vote for Rick Santorum and keep luring the Saints out the back door of the church.