Statistics on Religious Groups in U.S.

[Hardenbergh]

This website shows statistics of religious groups in the U.S. There may be other more accurate and reliable data from other sources. I don't have any way of knowing if the methods used for compiling the data are questionable or not.

But the United States has a greater number of religious groups than any other country in the world, and Adherents.com has literally thousands of adherent statistics for the U.S. This page provides some summary lists of the largest religious groups in the United States. Most of the tables on this page are based on self-identification data (which religious groups people actually say they belong to when surveyed), but some lists based on organizational reporting (membership figures from individual denominations) are shown as well:

http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html#religions

[tsg]

Q.18 What is your religious preference -- do you consider yourself Christian, Jewish, Muslim, other non-Christian such as Buddhist or Hindu, atheist, agnostic, something else, or don't you have a religious preference?

I would think "atheist" and "don't have a religious preference" are the same thing.

[This Guy]

I would think "atheist" and "don't have a religious preference" are the same thing.

I think not.

I'm an atheist, I don't believe there is a god of any flavor out there. I not only have no preference of a religion, I consider them all silly things, and a waste of time.

I could believe in a god, even the biblical one, but not have a preference for which particular religion is used to worship him/her/it. Or not have yet decided which religion I believe to be the "right" one to worship god.

[Hardenbergh]

I would think "atheist" and "don't have a religious preference" are the same thing.

I consider myself a Christian but I'm not attached to a particular denomination.

[tsg]

I think not.

I'm an atheist, I don't believe there is a god of any flavor out there. I not only have no preference of a religion, I consider them all silly things, and a waste of time.

I could believe in a god, even the biblical one, but not have a preference for which particular religion is used to worship him/her/it. Or not have yet decided which religion I believe to be the "right" one to worship god.

I understand what you are saying, except that the poll appears to have lumped all the people who said "don't have a preference" into a category labeled "Nonreligious/Secular".

[tsg]

I consider myself a Christian but I'm not attached to a particular denomination.

But you prefer Christianity over Hinduism, correct? That's not the same as "no preference."

[Hardenbergh]

But you prefer Christianity over Hinduism, correct? That's not the same as "no preference."

That's correct. It would seem impossible to be a believer of some kind without being attached to one of the religious groups. Denominations are another story.

[joobz]

That's correct. It would seem impossible to be a believer of some kind without being attached to one of the religious groups. Denominations are another story.
why are denominations any different?
Is mormon equally valid as catholic as Jehovah Witness as Pentacostal?

[Hardenbergh]

why are denominations any different?
Is mormon equally valid as catholic as Jehovah Witness as Pentacostal?

I'm equally comfortable attending Baptist, Methodist, Congregational, Episcopal or Non-Denominational services. I don't like the hymns in the Episcopal church because they seem more solemn or not as spirited as I've been accustomed to in the other churches but I like the Book of Common Prayer. There are also things I like about the Catholic church. I'm interested in the 14 Stations of the Cross and the imagery connected with them as well as the mysteries of the Rosary. I find it fascinating and I even learned to recite the Rosary for a time but after awhile, I thought it was monotonous although I don't find anything wrong with it. I just wasn't brought up as a Catholic.

[joobz]

I'm equally comfortable attending Baptist, Methodist, Congregational, Episcopal or Non-Denominational services. I don't like the hymns in the Episcopal church because they seem more solemn or not as spirited as I've been accustomed to in the other churches but I like the Book of Common Prayer. There are also things I like about the Catholic church. I'm interested in the 14 Stations of the Cross and the imagery connected with them as well as the mysteries of the Rosary. I find it fascinating and I even learned to recite the Rosary for a time but after awhile, I thought it was monotonous although I don't find anything wrong with it. I just wasn't brought up as a Catholic.

But do you believe that people can acheive sainthood?
Do you believe that people must go confess thier sins?
Do you believe that Christ gave the Pope leadership over the church on earth, and that as he does here so god will honor in heaven? How does this agree with divergent teachings in Protestant and/or baptist faiths?

[hgc]

I'm equally comfortable attending Baptist, Methodist, Congregational, Episcopal or Non-Denominational services. I don't like the hymns in the Episcopal church because they seem more solemn or not as spirited as I've been accustomed to in the other churches but I like the Book of Common Prayer. There are also things I like about the Catholic church. I'm interested in the 14 Stations of the Cross and the imagery connected with them as well as the mysteries of the Rosary. I find it fascinating and I even learned to recite the Rosary for a time but after awhile, I thought it was monotonous although I don't find anything wrong with it. I just wasn't brought up as a Catholic.


What do you mean by the "mysteries" of the Rosary. I understand them to be something equivalent to worry beads for some or even a ritual for self-induced trance for others. Is there something I'm missing?

[Hardenbergh]

What do you mean by the "mysteries" of the Rosary. I understand them to be something equivalent to worry beads for some or even a ritual for self-induced trance for others. Is there something I'm missing?

Take your pick. I had these Catholic websites saved as favorites when I was obsessed with Catholic images, prayers and novenas. :)

http://www.glorytothefather.com/questions.htm
http://www.catholic.org/saints/
http://www.catholicity.com/prayersdevotions/rosary.html
http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/mercy/dmmap.htm
(The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy)
http://www.14stationsofthecross.com/html/links.html
http://www.stjude-shrine.org/prayers.htm#Prayer%20in%20Financial%20Aid
(Shrine of Saint Jude Thaddeus)
http://www.stclem.org/sermons/dec%2022.htm
http://www.theworkofgod.org/Devotns/DivMercy/Divmercy.htm
http://www.theworkofgod.org/Devotns/DivMercy/Chaplet.htm
http://rosarycreations.com/dmnovena.htm
http://www.storesonline.com/site/483384/page/199791 (Divine Mercy Prayers - Light of Heaven
http://www.stjudenovena.org/stjudeprayers.html
http://www.truecatholic.org/stations.htm#s01 (Stations of the Cross)
http://www.carr.org/~meripper/prayers/sta-cros.htm (Stations of the Cross)
http://www.geocities.com/dwwsmw57/stations.html (Stations of the Cross)
http://www.companysj.com/v164/easternm.html (Father Paul Sullivan, St. Joseph's)
http://www.catholictradition.org/
http://www.circleofprayer.com/glorious-mysteries.html
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/3738/rosary.htm
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/books/intro.html (Marian Apparitions)
http://www.rosary-center.org/ll45n2.htm
http://www.antioch.com.sg/cgi-bin/HN_Open/get/prayer/402.html?embed=-1
http://www.cuf.org/member/therosary.pdf
http://marian.org/divinemercy/chaplet.html
http://www.revelations-unsealed.com/mary/mary12.htm
http://www.shasta.com/sphaws/mary.html
http://www.ourladyweb.com/mary-rosary.html
http://users.rcn.com/lanat/therosary.htm
http://www.worland.com/magdalen/rosary.htm#back
http://www.geocities.com/friaryrossnowlagh/anthonynovena.htm
http://www.augustacatholicparishes.org/details.html
http://web.cheapnet.it/ivanao/glorious.html
http://www.catholicity.com/maryfoundation/rosarytape.html
http://www.theholyrosary.org/
http://www.catholicity.com/prayersdevotions/rosary.html
http://www.cin.org/users/msmith/links.html
http://www.nw-cybermall.com/Rock-of-Inspiration/frames/Stations_of_the_Cross.htm
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/a71.html
http://www.spiritdaily.com/
http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:9FzB1LKdRt4J:www.gottesdienst.org/ObserverScoffer.html+vain+repetition+does+not+refe r+to+the+rosary&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 (981 Liturgical Observer)
http://www.sacredheartfla.org/liturgy/LIT8.htm (Chapter 8-The Rosary-link unavailable-see below)
http://www.medjugorje.org/rosary.htm (How To Pray the Rosary)
http://www.onlinecatholics.com/rosary.shtml (link not available)
http://www.onlinecatholics.com/
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/rosary.htm
http://www.theworkofgod.org/Devotns/Rosary/prayers.htm#Sign%20of%20the%20cross
http://www.geocities.com/friaryrossnowlagh/anthonynovena.htm
http://www.cin.org/users/james/files/praying.htm (Praying to the Saints)
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/stations.html
http://www.catholicity.com/prayersdevotions/divinemercy.html
http://www.salsgiver.com/people/cobutler/vainan.htm
http://www.psgod.com/stjude.htm (link not available-The Miracle Novena to St. Jude)
http://www.geocities.com/goperri/holyrosaryglorious.html (Gloria's Catholic/Christian Homepage)
http://www.sacredheartfla.org/
http://www.catholic.com/library/Purgatory.asp
http://www.catholicmoms.com/divine_mercy.htm
http://www.familyrosary.org/main/rosary-how.php
http://www.catholictradition.org/anne1-1.htm (link unavailable)
http://www.catholictradition.org/ (homepage as above)
http://www.angelfire.com/az/suncitysue/SaintJudeNovena.html
http://www.angelfire.com/az/suncitysue/Novenas.html
http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/novena/jude.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/apologia/saintbenedict/scripturalrosary.html
http://rosarycreations.com/dmchaplet.htm
http://www.markhargrave.com/chaplet.html
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/rosary.htm
http://www.rosaryworkshop.com/HISTORYwhyPray.htm (why pray, protestant, hail mary)
http://www.medjugorjeusa.org/chaplet.htm
http://www.divine-mercy.com/Child/Prayers/group_prayer.htm (link unavailable)
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/patron00.htm
http://www.catholic.com/library/Rosary.asp
http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/novena/anthony.htm
http://www.mainething.com/Saint_Denis/
http://www.ourladyweb.com/mary-rosary-answers.html
http://pages.prodigy.net/frpaul/homilies/dad.html
http://rosarycreations.com/rosaryprayers.htm
http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/rosary_scripture.htm
http://home.inreach.com/bstanley/repeat.htm
http://www.immaculateheart.com/ (link unavailable-Saint Anthony)
http://www.immaculateheart.com/ (Novena to St. Anthony)
http://www.escrivaworks.org/

[Hardenbergh]

There are Joyful Mysteries, Luminous Mysteries, Sorrowful Mysteries and Glorious Mysteries. Each mystery represents an important event in Jesus' life. When Catholics pray the Rosary, they meditate on each of these events. There is a description of each of the mysteries at this link (among countless others):

http://www.medjugorje.org/rosary.htm

The Light Mysteries were added in 2002 under Pope Paul II (also known as the Luminous Mysteries). They explore five major events in Jesus' public ministry. Click on the button to the left of the page that says Rosary Mysteries. There's a dropdown menu for each of the mysteries.

http://www.theholyrosary.org/

This is one link with the 14 Stations of the Cross with a description and pictures. I'm not sure I like the way the events are described in the link below. Some of the other links have different descriptions (simpler and I prefer them).

http://www.truecatholic.org/stations.htm#s01

I prefer the descriptions of each of the stations in this link as they're described in less maudlin terms (as if they're trying to make you feel worse or stir up your emotions). It reminds me of canned laughter on the old TV shows when they thought we had to be told when something is funny or how we should feel about something).

http://www.geocities.com/dwwsmw57/stations.html

[Hardenbergh]

But do you believe that people can acheive sainthood?
Do you believe that people must go confess thier sins?
Do you believe that Christ gave the Pope leadership over the church on earth, and that as he does here so god will honor in heaven? How does this agree with divergent teachings in Protestant and/or baptist faiths?

I must admit that I don't quite understand why the Pope has as much "clout" as he does. Maybe it's not much different than Dr. Frank Page being President of the Southern Baptist Convention, although on a smaller scale. Adrian Rogers (from Love Worth Finding) was formerly the President. He's now deceased.

This is a very popular website for listening to daily programming of a lot of ministries.

http://www.oneplace.com/

[joobz]

I must admit that I don't quite understand why the Pope has as much "clout" as he does. Maybe it's not much different than Dr. Frank Page being President of the Southern Baptist Convention, although on a smaller scale. Adrian Rogers (from Love Worth Finding) was formerly the President. He's now deceased.Right, which means that there are distinctions between denominations that some people view as being rather important and can't be minimized.

Which goes back to your first statement:
That's correct. It would seem impossible to be a believer of some kind without being attached to one of the religious groups. Denominations are another story.
Why is it impossible for a believer to believe without attaching themselves to one specific religion?
A person could just as easily claim that the distinctions between different god views are simply worshippings of different aspects of god. Therefore, there is no difference between christian, muslim, hindu... They are all worshipping the same "thing" but in different ways.

[Foster Zygote]

This website shows statistics of religious groups in the U.S. There may be other more accurate and reliable data from other sources. I don't have any way of knowing if the methods used for compiling the data are questionable or not.



http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html#religions

All this seems to be saying is that a greater number of religious varieties are observed in the United States.

[vexed]

I was sad to see that 'Jedi' wasn't included in the top 10 religions :(

May the Force be with you.

[hgc]

There are Joyful Mysteries, Luminous Mysteries, Sorrowful Mysteries and Glorious Mysteries. Each mystery represents an important event in Jesus' life. When Catholics pray the Rosary, they meditate on each of these events. There is a description of each of the mysteries at this link (among countless others):

http://www.medjugorje.org/rosary.htm

The Light Mysteries were added in 2002 under Pope Paul II (also known as the Luminous Mysteries). They explore five major events in Jesus' public ministry. Click on the button to the left of the page that says Rosary Mysteries. There's a dropdown menu for each of the mysteries.

http://www.theholyrosary.org/

This is one link with the 14 Stations of the Cross with a description and pictures. I'm not sure I like the way the events are described in the link below. Some of the other links have different descriptions (simpler and I prefer them).

http://www.truecatholic.org/stations.htm#s01

I prefer the descriptions of each of the stations in this link as they're described in less maudlin terms (as if they're trying to make you feel worse or stir up your emotions). It reminds me of canned laughter on the old TV shows when they thought we had to be told when something is funny or how we should feel about something).

http://www.geocities.com/dwwsmw57/stations.html


Thanks for spelling that out. I wasn't likely to start following the long list of links.

[Hardenbergh]

Right, which means that there are distinctions between denominations that some people view as being rather important and can't be minimized.

We have so many denominations because of so much division in the church. I used to work with a woman who belonged to one congregation until her husband volunteered to help out with the construction of the church building. He had very little experience in this area. Her husband was upset because one of the other workers criticized him about the way he was doing something. I guess he did it in a nice way but he became angry and he and and his wife both left and started attending another church. This example doesn't have anything to do with church doctrine but I just happened to think of it.

Which goes back to your first statement:

Why is it impossible for a believer to believe without attaching themselves to one specific religion?
A person could just as easily claim that the distinctions between different god views are simply worshippings of different aspects of god. Therefore, there is no difference between christian, muslim, hindu... They are all worshipping the same "thing" but in different ways.

I'm not too familiar with other religions but there are some differences between the Christian and Muslim religions.

http://www.allaboutreligion.org/muslim-god-and-christian-god-the-same-faq.htm

[joobz]

We have so many denominations because of so much division in the church. I used to work with a woman who belonged to one congregation until her husband volunteered to help out with the construction of the church building. He had very little experience in this area. Her husband was upset because one of the other workers criticized him about the way he was doing something. I guess he did it in a nice way but he became angry and he and and his wife both left and started attending another church. This example doesn't have anything to do with church doctrine but I just happened to think of it.
The same thing can be said about religious differences, if we take the stance that all religions worship different aspects of the same entity.

[SynapticDancer]

I would think "atheist" and "don't have a religious preference" are the same thing.

I disagree. While you might not have a religious preference, you might very well still believe in a god (or a form of god). Belief in god is in contrast with an athiest.

I think there are two seperate questions. 1) do you believe in god and 2) do you have a religion. Religion, while it generally cannot exist without a belief in god, you can believe in a god without being outwardly religious.

[SynapticDancer]

I was sad to see that 'Jedi' wasn't included in the top 10 religions :(

May the Force be with you.

And also with you.

[TuftedPuffin]

I was sad to see that 'Jedi' wasn't included in the top 10 religions :(

May the Force be with you.

Jedi seem to be more common in Britain, from the statistics I've seen.