MORAL WATCH: INDICATORS Part X
35 INDICATORS of America’s Moral Condition
This work focuses on 35 Indicators to show that direction in which our Nation is heading. The follow meter rating is for the purpose of following trends. Scale is each Moral Indicator (MI) is based on .1 to .9 with higher numbers indicating a worst condition – all multiplied by 3.176
Non-Religious: .87
In 1900 about two-thirds of the world’s Christians lived in Europe; by 2016 they represent only about 25%. WIN/Gallup International ‘is the leading association in market research and polling’ and ‘is made up of the 75 largest independent market research and polling firms in their respective countries… covering 95% of the world’s market.’ A 2012 poll by WIN/Gallup International surveyed over 50,000 people in 40 countries whether they considered themselves ‘religious’, ‘not religious’ or ‘convinced atheist’.
The 2012 poll found that ‘nearly 47% of people living in China describe themselves as atheists compared to an average of 13% across the world… One of the most surprising figures is in the Islamic country of Saudi Arabia where 5% of the population described themselves as atheists, despite this is considered a crime…’ The poll reported 31% of Japan’s population consider themselves ‘atheists,’ as did more than 30% French and Czech Republic citizens.
In a 2015 WIN/Gallop article called Losing our religion? Two thirds of people still claim to be religious, reported China with 61% atheists, Japan (31%), Czech Republic (30%), and Spain (20%). Their research states, 22% of the world’s people say explicitly that they are ‘not religious.’ The survey covered 65 countries, surveying about 64,000 people. The study found that ‘the most religious regions are Africa and MENA (Middle East and N. Africa) where 86% and 82% of the people consider themselves to be religious.’ However, remember it is a crime not to be Muslim in many Islamic nations. Moreover, the presence of religion does not indicate Christianity.
The 2015 study also stated, ‘Western Europe (51%) and Oceania (49%) are the only regions where approximately half of the population is either not religious or convinced atheists.’ Throughout this work will be facts addressing the ‘non religious’ or not affiliated and non-practicing.
A better indicator of the non-Christian and even proof of those ‘practicing’ their religion can be seen in a WIN-GALLOP with Global Barometer Study. In 2012 they released Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism. They found 36% of the people surveyed across the world considered themselves ‘Not a religious person’ or ‘a convinced atheist.’
Yet, these do not include those who did not respond or ‘don’t know,’ which in itself says something. Nor did the study examine practices of those surveyed. Thus, to say 31% of the Japanese call themselves atheist, falls well short of saying 85% of the people in Japan are atheist, non-religious, don’t know their religious condition or would not response when surveyed. Moreover, of the 15% that call themselves religious; a very small percent are practicing Christians.
Additionally, when the Global Study says that Austria, Czech Republic, Iceland and Ireland are among the top ten Atheist populations by percentage tells of trends in those countries, but says little to what that means on a global scale; together the four nations only makeup .33 of 1% of the world’s population.
The 2010 census, the CIA World Factbook and Pew Research Center studies, shows the United States has about 73% ‘professing’ Christians, including about 50% Protestants and 23% Catholics; yet, when asked 32% recently identified themselves as non-religious. Although Sweden and China rank significantly high in non-religious, even nations such as Israel are very secular. By certain studies, Israel has 50% to 65% of their citizens identified as non-religious or atheists. According to the U. S. Census Bureau International Data Base (IDB), the world population was 7.25 billion in mid-2015 or 7.3 by the PRB. Sources list the world Christian population at 33%; yet 23% is more accurate. About 5.6 billion or 77% of all people are non-Christians. Between 3.7 and 4.2 billion are non-religious in that they do not practice a religion at all, or do not attend a religious service once a month.
The above came from: Decline in Religion
See also: Surveys: moving to non-religious
Quantitative Analysis: the World
Pew Research Center’s new Religious Landscape Study (2015), a massive survey of more than 35,000 American adults. Over the last seven years, it found, the share of Americans who aren’t part of any religion has grown significantly, rising from 16 to nearly 23 percent of the population.
Church Attendance: .88
Although about 40% of Americans claim they go to a Christian Church regularly, according to Hartford Institute of Religion Research less than 20% actually attend church each week (2016). Moreover, according to Pew Research Center, only about 27% of millennials say they attend religious services each week. And Pew Research also reported that between 2007 and 2014 there was a 3.7% decline in weekly attendance. The U.S. Census has shown a significant decline in Christianity and increase in the non-religious. In the last ten years it is more likely we have had over a 10% decline in church attendance.
According to a 2011 LifeWay Research study, 75% of protestant churches have a website—but less than half of those “use their sites for interactive purposes.”
According to churchleaders.com (2016) ‘less than 20% of Americans regularly attend church – half of what pollsters report.’ There website states, “While Gallup polls and other statisticians have turned in the same percentage—about 40 percent of the population—of average weekend church attendees for the past 70 years, a different sort of research paints quite a disparate picture of how many Americans attend a local church on any given Sunday.”
They continue: “Olson, director of church planting for the Evangelical Covenant Church (covchurch.org), began collecting data in the late ’80s, gradually expanding his research to encompass overall attendance trends in the church. In his study, he tracked the annual attendance of more than 200,000 individual Orthodox Christian churches (the accepted U.S. church universe is 330,000). To determine attendance at the remaining 100,000-plus Orthodox Christian churches, he used statistical models, which included multiplying a church’s membership number by the denomination’s membership-to-attendance ratio. His findings reveal that the actual rate of church attendance from head counts is less than half of the 40 percent the pollsters report. Numbers from actual counts of people in Orthodox Christian churches (Catholic, mainline and evangelical) show that in 2004, 17.7 percent of the population attended a Christian church on any given weekend.”
Believe in God:.86
In 2010, a Eurobarometer opinion poll showed that 27% of the citizens of France and 37% of England’s did not ‘believe there is a God.’ The poll showed 49% of EU citizens did not believe in God; yet in a 2011 Eurostat Census, 48% checked on their census that they were ‘Catholic,’ and 72% labeled themselves as ‘Christian.’
Research by the French Institute of Public Opinion (2011-12), stated only 2.9% of the population actually practices the Catholic faith, compared to 3.8% who practice the Muslim faith.
According to a 2016 Gallup Poll in America, 89 % of Americans say they believe in God; down from 96% in 1944. In 2011, a Gallup poll showed the percentage about 87%. Pew Research in 2015 in their article American’s faith in God may be eroding, reported only 63% of Americans stated they ‘believe in God with absolute certainly;’ down 8% from 71% in 2007.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/04/americans-faith-in-god-may-be-eroding/
Believe in Jesus: .86
According to a 2016 Harris Poll, ‘What Americans Believe In,’ 68% of adults believed that Jesus is the Son of God in 2013 and 71% did in 2016. Yet, 65% (2013) and 68% (2016) believed he was resurrected from the dead; and only 57% in both years believed Christ was born of the Virgin Mary. A Rasmussen Report found in 2016, 77% of Americans believe Jesus Christ was the son of God.
According to Barna Research (2015), “The historicity of Jesus may not be in question for most Americans, but people are much less confident in the divinity of Jesus. Most adults—not quite six in 10—believe Jesus was God (56%), while about one-quarter say he was only a religious or spiritual leader like Mohammed or the Buddha (26%). The remaining one in six say they aren’t sure whether Jesus was divine (18%).
Millennials are the only generation among whom fewer than half believe Jesus was God (48%). About one-third of young adults (35%) say instead that Jesus was merely a religious or spiritual leader, while 17 percent aren’t sure what he was.”
https://www.barna.com/research/what-do-americans-believe-about-jesus-5-popular-beliefs/#
Believe in the Bible: .88
A 2014 Gallup Poll revealed only 28% of Americans believes the Bible is the actual word of God and should be taken literally. This is a significant fall from about half of American adults in the 1950s.
2014 From Slate.com: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_nature/2014/12/creationism_poll_how_many_americans_believe_the_bible_is_literal_inerrant.html
Belief in Heaven and Hell: .88
According to a 2013 Harris Poll, only 58% of Americans believe in Hell and 68% in Heaven. In a 2016 Harris Poll only 58% believed in the Devil. In 2015, Pew Research showed 72% of Americans believing in Heaven, and only 58% in Hell.
2009 Harris Poll results:
http://media.theharrispoll.com/documents/Harris_Poll_2009_12_15.pdf
Belief in Cosmic and Biological Evolution: .85
According to a 2016 Harris Poll, 49% of U.S. adults believe in Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, and only 37% in Creationism. According to a 2013 Pew Research Poll, Public’s Views on Human Evolution, “6 in 10 Americans say that ‘humans and other living things have evolved over time,’ while 33% reject evolution.
Extras:
| A Trinity College Report, ‘The Transformation of Generation X: Shifts in Religious and Political Self-Identification, 1990-2008’ based on the ‘American Religious Identification Survey 2008’ and ARIS 1990 surveyed over 150,000 people. They found 85% of Generation X (Gx) responded to being ‘Christian’ in 1990, and it was down to 75% in 2008. In 1990, 33% of Gx were ‘Catholic,’ down to 26% in 2008; Baptist 19% in 1990 down to 15% in 2008; none up from 11% to 16%. http://commons.trincoll.edu/aris/files/2012/05/ARISGENX2012.pdf |
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/416543/americas-decay-speeding
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/26/73-percent-of-americans-say-the-nations-moral-valu/
http://www.gallup.com/poll/183467/majority-say-moral-values-getting-worse.aspx
http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2013/06/29/20-signs-america-is-in-decline-n1630414
2 Timothy 1:8-9, “do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord”
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