Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Multiculturalism overstated: Newsweek and Beliefnet.com poll shows U.S. 85% Christian

Dr. William Donohue, President of the Catholic League, corrects the widely disseminated assertion that America is mostly a multicultural nation. According to this poll, he states, in their traditions and religious expression most Americans are Christian.

The Catholic League
News Release

August 22, 2005

“MULTICULTURAL” U.S. MOSTLY CHRISTIAN

The cover story of Newsweek magazine, “Spirituality in America,” contains fascinating information that was gleaned from a survey of Americans conducted by Newsweek and Beliefnet.com. Catholic League president William Donohue commented on the poll results today:

“The poll shows that 85 percent of Americans are Christian (63 percent Protestant and 22 percent Catholic); Jews and Muslims each make up 1 percent; 4 percent did not designate their religion; and 6 percent profess to believe in nothing. To understand the social significance of this profile, consider what the U.S. looked like a half-century ago.

“Will Herberg’s book, Protestant, Catholic, Jew was published in 1955. At that time, 91 percent of Americans were Christian (68 percent Protestant and 23 percent Catholic); Jews were 4 percent; and 5 percent expressed no religious preference. So in the 50 years since Herberg’s classic appeared, the percent of the nation that is Protestant declined slightly; Catholics constitute about the same proportion; and the number of self-identified Jews has declined. Yes, we now have more Muslims and adherents of other religions than ever before, but the real news is how little our nation has changed.

more...

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home