Surveys Find America Becoming Less Christian, Turning to Astrology and Ghosts

According to a December 2009 poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, an increasing number of Americans claim to mingle their Christian faith with New Age teachings and Eastern religion precepts, including "reincarnation, astrology and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects."

This survey is of particular interests to U.S. religious demographic studies, considering that in 2008 76 percent of American adults claimed to adhere to traditional Christianity. This is down from 86 percent in 1990. Pew Forum noted that "sizeable minorities of all major U.S. religious groups say they have experienced supernatural phenomena, such as being in touch with the dead or with ghosts."

In March of 2009, Catholic League President William Donohue cited the nation's move toward individualism as a key contributing factor to the decline in traditional religious practices. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Lou Dobbs, Donohue said of this radical shift, "The three most dreaded words are thou shalt not. Notice they are not atheists - they are saying I don't want to be told what to do with my life."

Further research by Pew Forum found that 13 percent of "white evangelicals profess to believe in astrology and about 10 percent accepted the possibility of reincarnation."

Pew Forum has been careful to note that "reincarnation" has been defined as being physically reborn again and again, as opposed to the resurrection of Christ, a common misnomer among many traditional Christians.

Despite the aforementioned, the American Religious Identification Survey conducted earlier this year by Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, found that "born again" and "evangelical" Christianity is on the rise, according to CNN.

The survey also found Americans less interested in other "mainline" denominations such as Lutheran, Episcopalian, Methodist and Presbyterian as national attendance at churches of these religious origins has fallen significantly, while mega church attendance is on the rise worldwide.

In fact, the survey found mega church attendance has leaped from 200,000 in 1990 to over 8 million today. Unfortunately, there is still a national rejection of religion taking place throughout America says Mark Silk of Trinity College.

Silk, citing sexual abuse scandals within the Catholic Church and religious affiliations mingled with political parties, told CNN, "The culture has changed in a way that makes it easier to say, 'No I don't have a religion.' Even in the past year, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama feel obliged to talk about 'those of no faith.'"

In fact, Obama's mention of "those of no faith" within his January inaugural address marked the first time in history a U.S. president has done so.

Still, many scholars believe Americans will return to their traditional religious practices within the next five years for comfort in such economically unstable times.

©2009 Joshua D. Givens & The Underground Christian E-Magazine

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