Oct 18, 2019 01:47 AM
Share of Americans with no religious affiliation is rising significantly
Washington Times: The number of Americans who identify as Christian has fallen by 13 million over the last 10 years while those who are not affiliated with any religion grew by 30 million, according to polling data from the Pew Research Center. The survey’s results, released Thursday, show that 65% of American adults (about 167 million) describe themselves as Christian, down from 77% a decade ago. Meanwhile, 26% (about 67 million) describe themselves as religious “nones” (atheists, agnostics and nonaffiliated), up from 17% in 2009. (MORE)
NY Post: Both Protestant and Roman Catholic ranks are losing population share, according to Pew. It said 43 percent of US adults identify as Protestants, down from 51 percent in 2009, while 20 percent are Catholic, down from 23 percent in 2009. Pew says all categories of the religiously unaffiliated population ... Self-described atheists now account for 4 percent of US adults, up from 2 percent in 2009; agnostics account for 5 percent, up from 3 percent a decade ago; and 17 percent of Americans now describe their religion as “nothing in particular,” up from 12 percent in 2009.
The report comes at a challenging time for many major denominations in the US. The two largest — the Catholic church and the Southern Baptist Convention — are beset by clergy sex-abuse scandals. The United Methodist Church, the largest mainline Protestant denomination, faces a possible split over differences on the inclusion of LGBTQ people. The Pew report found a steady decline in the rates of attendance at religious services. (MORE)
Religious hate-crime offences in the UK on the rise, says report
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2...ays-report
EXCERPT: Religious hate-crime has increased more than twice as fast as other forms since 2015, a report by the Commission for Countering Extremism says. The report, Challenging Hateful Extremism, published last week, also argues that “countering hateful extremism requires the greatest attention and focus if we are to be successful in reducing the extremist threat”.
Hate-crime figures reported to police have more than doubled since 2013, further figures published by the Home Office this week show. There were 103,379 hate crimes recorded in England and Wales in 2018-19, of which 8556 were religion-motivated: a three-per-cent rise on last year. Just under half, 47 per cent, of religious hate-crime offences targeted Muslims: this represents 3530 separate offences. Hate crimes against Jewish people have doubled: 18 per cent of religious hate-crime offences targeted Jewish people in 1326 offences, compared with 672 in the previous year.
Citizens UK suggested that the Home Office figures were just the tip of the iceberg, as most hate crimes were not reported to the police. [...] The report also blames “Far Right agitators” for stirring up hatred against minorities, particularly Muslims. It says: “Far Right agitators’ videos on social media can receive over half a million views. Up to four thousand people attend rallies headlined by Far Right leaders.” (MORE - details)
Washington Times: The number of Americans who identify as Christian has fallen by 13 million over the last 10 years while those who are not affiliated with any religion grew by 30 million, according to polling data from the Pew Research Center. The survey’s results, released Thursday, show that 65% of American adults (about 167 million) describe themselves as Christian, down from 77% a decade ago. Meanwhile, 26% (about 67 million) describe themselves as religious “nones” (atheists, agnostics and nonaffiliated), up from 17% in 2009. (MORE)
NY Post: Both Protestant and Roman Catholic ranks are losing population share, according to Pew. It said 43 percent of US adults identify as Protestants, down from 51 percent in 2009, while 20 percent are Catholic, down from 23 percent in 2009. Pew says all categories of the religiously unaffiliated population ... Self-described atheists now account for 4 percent of US adults, up from 2 percent in 2009; agnostics account for 5 percent, up from 3 percent a decade ago; and 17 percent of Americans now describe their religion as “nothing in particular,” up from 12 percent in 2009.
The report comes at a challenging time for many major denominations in the US. The two largest — the Catholic church and the Southern Baptist Convention — are beset by clergy sex-abuse scandals. The United Methodist Church, the largest mainline Protestant denomination, faces a possible split over differences on the inclusion of LGBTQ people. The Pew report found a steady decline in the rates of attendance at religious services. (MORE)
Religious hate-crime offences in the UK on the rise, says report
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2...ays-report
EXCERPT: Religious hate-crime has increased more than twice as fast as other forms since 2015, a report by the Commission for Countering Extremism says. The report, Challenging Hateful Extremism, published last week, also argues that “countering hateful extremism requires the greatest attention and focus if we are to be successful in reducing the extremist threat”.
Hate-crime figures reported to police have more than doubled since 2013, further figures published by the Home Office this week show. There were 103,379 hate crimes recorded in England and Wales in 2018-19, of which 8556 were religion-motivated: a three-per-cent rise on last year. Just under half, 47 per cent, of religious hate-crime offences targeted Muslims: this represents 3530 separate offences. Hate crimes against Jewish people have doubled: 18 per cent of religious hate-crime offences targeted Jewish people in 1326 offences, compared with 672 in the previous year.
Citizens UK suggested that the Home Office figures were just the tip of the iceberg, as most hate crimes were not reported to the police. [...] The report also blames “Far Right agitators” for stirring up hatred against minorities, particularly Muslims. It says: “Far Right agitators’ videos on social media can receive over half a million views. Up to four thousand people attend rallies headlined by Far Right leaders.” (MORE - details)
