Lies, Damn Lies, and Religious Statistics
I saw this little blurb on a Yahoo! news story. I found quite a few points to be very interesting indeed! One of the most extensive studies of religious practices in America finds that nearly 30% of us have left our childhood faith for another one--nearly 45% of us if you count those who jumped from one flavor of Protestantism to another.
I found two points from this survey utterly fascinating, mainly because they pertain to me, of course. From the story:
An even more extreme example of what might be called "masked churn" is the relatively tiny Jehovah's Witnesses, with a turnover rate of about two-thirds. That means that two-thirds of the people who told Pew they were raised Jehovah's Witnesses no longer are - yet the group attracts roughly the same number of converts. Notes Lugo, "No wonder they have to keep on knocking on doors."Har-de-frickin-har. See, when you're inside, the JW's like to make you feel like being on the outside makes you in the minority. They won't release real figures about how many people leave their cult, but they imply that those who do are in the very tiny minority. Guess most of us aren't the sheeple they planned on herding. Suck it, JWs. Not that any of them still in the cult bother to read anything other than Watchtower Bible & Tract Society approved literature. Brunnehilde ought to get some relief from this statistic. We're in the majority, baby!
Another interesting blurb from the story:
The single biggest "winner," in terms of number gained versus number lost, was not a religious group at all, but the "unaffiliated" category. About 16% of those polled defined their religious affiliation that way (including people who regarded themselves as religious, along with atheists and agnostics); only 7% had been brought up that way. That's an impressive gain, but Lugo points out that churn is everywhere: even the unaffiliated group lost 50% of its original membership to one church or another.Woot! Go, independent thinking! It's about time more people were honest with where they stood on religious matters. The numbers would probably look MUCH different if people didn't feel guilted into admitting religious affiliations.
-- Virgil, solidly in the majority!
posted by contemplator at Tuesday, February 26, 2008
6 Comments:
I read the yahoo article yesterday and was surprised. I always felt like I was in the minority on my beliefs (I'm unaffiliated, but would definitely consider myself religious - from the Baptist persuasion). :-)
It's nice to know we really AREN'T alone (or in the minority) and that others have found their voice as well and aren't blindly following what's they've been taught just because "it's the way we've always done it."
I think more people need to know that it's OK to express their voice, and then more people WOULD express the same sentiment. Know what I mean?
I think a lot of people hesitate because of the dire consequences if they're wrong. If someone turns away from God, one faces eternal hellfire and damnation. God can be a prick when you ignore his ass.
On the other hand, sticking with a religion (regardless of personal doubts) results in not being able to do a few things (at least in mainstream Protestantism and Catholicism) and having to endure an hour long church service every week.
This, of course, doesn't even factor in the social and familial stigma associated with being an agnostic/atheist (as you well know).
I think a lot of people would rather hedge their bets. Logically, if you don't REALLY believe in God but go through the religious motions just because you think it's right, an omnipotent God wouldn't be fooled. Of course, people can do weird things when they're frightened.
And nobody has the market on fear like religion. :)
I saw that post too! I've been trying to think of a stealthy way to insert it into a conversation with my dad, who just this last weekend asked me why I left the "truth." BARF! Damn but the freaking CIA could take lessons in brainwashing from the Dubs! I just hugged him and told him he REALLY didn't want an answer to that question! You're right though, it DID make me feel a lot better. This April will be two years out for me, and in some ways it feels longer, and in some ways I still feel so effed up!
I do not know if you can really consider yourself to be part of any aforementioned majority, due to the fact that not only are you not protestant, but especially because you are an atheist.
Jesus, you don't read very closely at all, do you? Did you even read the part about the JWs, particularly people who are kicked out? Disfellowshipped people outnumber practicing JWs overwhelmingly, which I took pains to point out the JWs cover over with lies. Do you bother to read at all anymore, or do you just comment as you seem to see fit??
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