The big news in the new Pew study? That religion is fluid in the USA — 44% have changed denominations or faith:
More than one-quarter of American adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion – or no religion at all. If change in affiliation from one type of Protestantism to another is included, 44% of adults have either switched religious affiliation, moved from being unaffiliated with any religion to being affiliated with a particular faith, or dropped any connection to a specific religious tradition altogether.
The survey finds that the number of people who say they are unaffiliated with any particular faith today (16.1%) is more than double the number who say they were not affiliated with any particular religion as children. Among Americans ages 18-29, one-in-four say they are not currently affiliated with any particular religion.
But who is surprised by this? I have switched denominations three times since becoming a Christian, I went from Methodist to Lutheran to Presbyterian and my husband has switched four times (he started out as Catholic). Though we’ve moved through different denominations, our belief in Christ remained the same, the move reflects a deeper understanding of theology. Movement from the religion of our youth can actually be a positive if we are making the faith of our childhood our own. And today people are more inclined to move since we are a more consumer-driven society. Why not try out the new mega church with its coffee bar and gym? Why stick with the denomination that you grew up in since they lack adequate youth programs/Sunday School programs/worship music? And with the fluidity of the job market, people move in and out of congregations at an alarming rate (you can’t always find your denomination) in a new area (people are moving to and from our church all the time). So, 44% doesn’t really seem that high when you consider how much we move around in general.
Protestantism is close to becoming a minority with only 51.3% but Christianity is still the dominate religion with 78%. Catholicism is on the decline but an influx of immigrants has kept the percentage of Catholics steady.
The really bad news in the study is that people are dropping out of organized religion altogether and they are doing it at a faster rate than those who are joining a religious affiliation for the first time. Religions are losing people at a faster rate than they are gaining new people. This doesn’t mean that they have all become atheists since the bulk of the unaffiliated is “nothing in particular” with only 1.6% self-declared atheists and 2.4 self-declared agnostics. This news is obviously troubling since it reflects dissatisfaction with religion in general. People who were raised in religion have lost their affiliation with it. I would find this discouraging if my own life weren’t reflected in this category as well. I stopped attending church a few years before I became a Christian, so I know that there is hope for those who have left the religion of their youth, they may return when they are older or wiser (or the Lord draws them to himself 
.
And that touches on a problem with this study. During that time that I wasn’t attending church, I probably would have said I was a Methodist and my husband would have said he was Catholic but that wasn’t really a reflection of our belief system. We weren’t even Christians and it would have been incorrect to include us in the Christianity category. I wonder how many others are holding on to the affiliation of their youth but should really be in the unaffiliated category. I’m not really encouraged by the 78% of Christians or even the 51% Protestants since there was no corresponding question of church attendance. That information would have given us a better picture of affiliation and nonaffiliation.
posted February 27, 2008 at 6:44 pm
But who is surprised by this?
Me. I was surprised by this.
‘Though I am deeply interested in why people switch.
Sometimes it’s fairly practical, hardly theological. As you say, moving to a new area without a familiar church nearby. Or marrying someone from another tradition. Or getting ticked off by someone or something in the previous church (the sex abuse scandal was, uh, a close one for me, especially because my local parish was also driving me crazy in an unrelated way – it was a bad time all ’round, spiritually, and I may, just now, be coming out of it).
Everyone born in the church, at some point,necessarily chooses it for themselves, chooses another or walks away entirely. I’d pity someone, like yourself, who chose unwisely the first time out. Do you have it right now? Don’t you wonder among all the options?
Of course, the real question (and potential scandal) is how many times people have been baptized again upon joining a church.
posted February 27, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Um…I didn’t choose the Methodist, I was born into it. And I chose the Lutherans because they believed that the Bible was the word of God and my Methodist minister didn’t appear to believe that. I was asked to stop teaching Reformed Theology, so I left the church.
No need for pity since I went into each situation with the knowledge that I had at the time.
posted February 27, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I was asked to stop teaching Reformed Theology, so I left the church.
Thanks for being “all things to all.” 
Interesting. Very interesting.
In my list of reasons for switching, I almost included “getting kicked out” but I didn’t think that happened in real life. LOL. As usual, I have you here to prove me wrong!
posted February 27, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I find it interesting that you call people loosing interest in religion “really bad news”. As a member of the no religious affiliation segment, I don’t care if people are religious, but I don’t feel like it is bad news that I am not.
posted February 27, 2008 at 8:47 pm
I find relatively few people in organized religion to be Christian and even fewer clergy.In this I think we may agree. This may be the reason so many stay away from organized religion. It has always been mine.
posted February 27, 2008 at 9:52 pm
MH, maybe because I see the value in it and feel bad that they don’t realize what they are missing.
posted February 28, 2008 at 11:02 am
MH, maybe because I see the value in it and feel bad that they don’t realize what they are missing.
I’d guess that the people losing interest in religion are likely well aware of what it is they’re “missing”: convoluted theological reasoning, exaggerated claims, false promises, etc.
posted February 28, 2008 at 12:42 pm
No, love, acceptance, mercy, the hope of justice, the knowledge of forgiveness and freedom from guilt. That last one alone is worth the price of admission
posted February 28, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Sociopaths aren’t bothered by guilt either. Go figure.
posted February 28, 2008 at 2:18 pm
zing!
posted February 28, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I didn’t say, “not bothered” did I? I said “freedom” there is a big difference. A sociopath can’t experience freedom from the guilt of their sin because that can only come to those who are free of it. Whether someone acknowledges it or not or even understands it isn’t really the issue. Freedom from guilt isn’t a perception, it is a reality.
meh, sorry but no
posted February 28, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Oh right. Because you think a magical human sacrifice 2000 years ago means God isn’t mad at you. My bad.
posted February 28, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Because God sent his Son to die for the sins of his people and he was raised in acceptance of his sacrifice. It really doesn’t matter if you believe it or not because you assertion that its “magical” is just that an assertion. (And yeah, I know my assertion doesn’t make it true, I guess we are in the same boat when it comes to the argument, huh?
posted February 28, 2008 at 4:07 pm
It really doesn’t matter if you believe it or not because you assertion that its “magical” is just that an assertion.
So the resurrection isn’t a supernatural miracle now? Reformed theology is stranger than I thought.
Anyway I agree that it really doesn’t matter if I believe it or not. I’m guessing that the people who are leaving traditional religion in droves agree too.
posted February 28, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Michele, I suppose feeling bad because you feel people are missing out is one of the better possible reasons. I was afraid it was going to be the claim that non-religious people can’t be moral without religion, so a decline was really bad news because it meant society would go to hell in a hand basket.
posted February 29, 2008 at 8:10 am
MH, see this is where reformed theology is actually different from what is the common assume in evangelical circles, we have the doctrine of common grace — God puts his restraining hand on society. I believe that atheists, et al. can act in ways that society considers ethical or moral. I don’t believe that Christians are basically good and everyone else is basically bad. I believe that Christians are forgiven and have been given freedom from sin (Romans 6) but that we don’t live in that freedom.
posted February 29, 2008 at 8:16 am
BTW, when I said this “And yeah, I know my assertion doesn’t make it true, I guess we are in the same boat when it comes to the argument, huh?” I should have noted that I believe that my argument is much stronger because I have the witness of Scripture and the church but I realize that our side (meaning the whole searching for the historical Jesus debate that has gone on in the church) has undermined that witness. But it should be noted in case anyone thinks I don’t believe in the veracity of the Scriptures, I do and believe that God uses them to reveal who he is.
posted February 29, 2008 at 8:23 am
Um…there’s a difference between magic and miraculous, you might want to consult the dictionary