The issues and questions these numbers raise challenge the very basis of the christianists claim of America as being "One nation, under God".
From www.csmonitor.com
The percentage of Christians in the US declined, while that of people with 'no religion' almost doubled.
Christianity's hold on many Americans is slipping, losing out not to other faiths but to "no faith."
One in every 5 US adults chose not to identify a religious identity: 15 percent chose "no religion" and the other 5 percent declined to name one.
The article in the Christian Science Monitor continues with...
"Today, 76 percent of the US population call themselves Christians, compared with 86 percent in 1990, according to the third American Religious Self-Identification Survey (ARIS), released Monday by Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. Among Christians, the survey confirms that many are shedding denominational loyalties for a more generic Christian allegiance."
I was raised as a Roman Catholic in Queens, New York. I went to parochial school, entered the minor seminary to study for the priesthood when I was thirteen years old, went to a Catholic college, and entered the major seminary in preparation for ordination to the priesthood where I received a degree in theology (M.Div. for those who care). I was ordained a deacon, served in two parishes in the Diocese of Brooklyn where I preached numerous homilies, assisted in the celebration of the Eucharist, baptized dozens of babies, and buried a few score of the dead. And lost my "faith" shortly thereafter.
Friends and acquaintances over the years have always asked if that means I don't believe in God. It's a question I have never been able to answer successfully. I do know, however, what I don't believe in and that's any form of organized religion.
The Latin root of the word "seminary" is "seminarius" meaning "of the seed". A freer translation would be "hothouse". And that is basically the purpose of the seminary. It is where the "seed" of faith is nurtured and grown until it blossoms forth and in so doing continues to spread the seeds across the earth. (I know a bit schmaltzy but that's how you learn to talk in the seminary. Sorry.) But the seminary is at once an ideal world and a world of ideals. And for some, like me, when that ideal world is merged with the real world, the world of ideals begins to crumble. The problem, you see, is that all organized religions, while aspiring to the Divine, are nevertheless run by mere mortals. And as such are subject to the same human frailties as those not "of the cloth". Suffice it to say in organized religion, God is in a neck and neck race with Mammon.
My thesis for my Master's degree was : "Did Christ intend to found a church?" The answer is no. The central message of Jesus was "Do unto others as you would have done unto yourselves". No more. No less. No rules about not eating meat on Fridays. No rules about pre-marital sex. No rules about divorce. No rules about homosexuality. No rules about abortion. No rules about contraception. Just love one another. He would be appalled by how his mission and message has been turned into sideshows run by people like Benny Hinn or the monstrous hierarchical organization based in Rome.
I think, perhaps, that young doctors experience the same splash of cold water in the face when they leave medical school with its principles and practices and are thrown into the snake pit that is medicine in America in the 21st century. We both must confront the reality that underlies each discipline. Neither can exist without money. And to be truly trite, money is the root of all evil.
One of the things we can glean from this survey is, that despite the non-stop proselytizing by all organized Christian faiths over the last three decades, the number of non-believers is growing faster than the believers. These professional religionists may be their own worst enemy. Personal experience has taught me that one does not win friends (or converts) and influence people by constantly pointing out their failings. Nor does the promise of eternal damnation go far as an advertising tool. The religionists miss the point every time. People are looking for hope and help in their day to day lives. Not pie in the sky when you die. (This was key to Obama's successful bid for the presidency.)
So back to that question. Do I believe in "God". I still can't answer that question. I do believe that there is a force of nature or power greater than man which "inspires" him to seek the good. I believe that the individual spirit, or "soul" if you must, continues beyond this plain of existence. I cannot bring myself to believe in nothingness. I believe that the majority of my fellow man does seek the good and shuns the evil. And I do not believe that we need a priest, or minister, or rabbi, or imam, or shaman to show us the path to truth.
This survey seems to confirm my beliefs. As the numbers of those who claim no membership in any organized religion has risen, we have not seen a concomitant rise in the numbers of murders, rapes, violence, or any other evil trumpeted by the religionists as the result of "lack of faith".
I think most of us have a lot of faith. We have rejected organized religion in favor of the simple truths of the Christ.