The other religious “nones”
More to the point on that study (below) of how religious Americans are, this Washington Post article explains the shift in habits since the last time this study was done. It gives a (somewhat) better picture of…at least what the other article was trying to say.
“People might not have a denomination, but they have a congregation. They have a sense of religious connection that is formative to who they are,” said Kevin D. Dougherty, a sociologist at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion and one of the survey’s authors.
The finding reflects the new challenges involved in trying to categorize religiosity in the United States, where people increasingly blend religions, shop for churches and worship in independent communities. Classic labels such as mainline, evangelical and unaffiliated no longer have the same meaning.
Why is that? Part of it may be the increasingly unfriendly media attitude toward traditional religion in America. Survey respondents seem to pick their answers carefully.
For example, 33 percent of Americans worship at evangelical congregations, which sociologists say are places that espouse an inerrant Bible, the importance of evangelizing and the requirement of having a personal relationship with Jesus. But only 15 percent of respondents to the Baylor survey said the term “evangelical” describes their religious identity.
The article’s use of the word “labels” might be part of the problem. The reporter’s definition of the term “evangelical” doesn’t fit one denomination or church. Surely, sociologists realize that Roman Catholics “espouse” the inerrancy of Divine Revelation in the Bible. And Catholics have had multiple popes write and teach about the importance of evangelizing the world, in fact using the term “the new evangelization,” especially during John Paul II’s pontificate and now under Benedict. And Catholics not only seek and want “a personal relationship with Jesus,” they fully believe they are in the fullest communion with him possible in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist at Mass.
But they’re still trying to figure this all out.
Scholars have been saying for some time that the relevance of denomination is decreasing…Academics who study religious demographics disagree about the “nones,” and the Baylor study won’t end that debate.
Especially given the thinking behind this line:
One thing the experts agree on: “Nones” tend to vote liberal but tend not to identify with a political party.
Something tells me a particular political party will become increasingly interested in identifying them.
