John, religion is a joke. It is a artifact that belongs in a museum. Don't know you know there is a difference between spirituality and religious dogma? Everything that is in the Bible could be distilled down to a pamphlet. Wake up with the rest of us who walked away or never bothered with religion.
John wrote: > To All: > > A recent article shows that we are undergoing the effects of Kali Yuga. It > is said that eventually the entire world population will be occupied mostly > by mlecchas, the lowest type of human beings ever. At that time, Kalki will > incarnate to wreak havoc among the population of the earth. > > ************ > > More Americans say they have no religion > > By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll, Ap Religion Writer – Mon Mar > 9, 12:14 am ET AP > > A wide-ranging study on American religious life found that the Roman Catholic > population has been shifting out o of the Northeast to the Southwest, the > percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say they > have no religion at all. > > Fifteen percent of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from > 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990, according to the American > Religious Identification Survey. > > Northern New England surpassed the Pacific Northwest as the least religious > region, with Vermont reporting the highest share of those claiming no > religion, at 34 percent. Still, the study found that the numbers of Americans > with no religion rose in every state. > > "No other religious bloc has kept such a pace in every state," the study's > authors said. > > In the Northeast, self-identified Catholics made up 36 percent of adults last > year, down from 43 percent in 1990. At the same time, however, Catholics grew > to about one-third of the adult population in California and Texas, and > one-quarter of Floridians, largely due to Latino immigration, according to > the research. > > Nationally, Catholics remain the largest religious group, with 57 million > people saying they belong to the church. The tradition gained 11 million > followers since 1990, but its share of the population fell by about a > percentage point to 25 percent. > > Christians who aren't Catholic also are a declining segment of the country. > > In 2008, Christians comprised 76 percent of U.S. adults, compared to about 77 > percent in 2001 and about 86 percent in 1990. Researchers said the dwindling > ranks of mainline Protestants, including Methodists, Lutherans and > Episcopalians, largely explains the shift. Over the last seven years, > mainline Protestants dropped from just over 17 percent to 12.9 percent of the > population. > > The report from The Program on Public Values at Trinity College in Hartford, > Conn., surveyed 54,461 adults in English or Spanish from February through > November of last year. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.5 > percentage points. The findings are part of a series of studies on American > religion by the program that will later look more closely at reasons behind > the trends. > > The current survey, being released Monday, found traditional organized > religion playing less of a role in many lives. Thirty percent of married > couples did not have a religious wedding ceremony and 27 percent of > respondents said they did not want a religious funeral. > > About 12 percent of Americans believe in a higher power but not the personal > God at the core of monotheistic faiths. And, since 1990, a slightly greater > share of respondents — 1.2 percent — said they were part of new religious > movements, including Scientology, Wicca and Santeria. > > The study also found signs of a growing influence of churches that either > don't belong to a denomination or play down their membership in a religious > group. > > Respondents who called themselves "non-denominational Christian" grew from > 0.1 percent in 1990 to 3.5 percent last year. Congregations that most often > use the term are megachurches considered "seeker sensitive." They use rock > style music and less structured prayer to attract people who don't usually > attend church. Researchers also found a small increase in those who prefer > being called evangelical or born-again, rather than claim membership in a > denomination. > > Evangelical or born-again Americans make up 34 percent of all American adults > and 45 percent of all Christians and Catholics, the study found. Researchers > found that 18 percent of Catholics consider themselves born-again or > evangelical, and nearly 39 percent of mainline Protestants prefer those > labels. Many mainline Protestant groups are riven by conflict over how they > should interpret what the Bible says about gay relationships, salvation and > other issues. > > The percentage of Pentecostals remained mostly steady since 1990 at 3.5 > percent, a surprising finding considering the dramatic spread of the > tradition worldwide. Pentecostals are known for a spirited form of > Christianity that includes speaking in tongues and a belief in modern-day > miracles. > > Mormon numbers also held steady over the period at 1.4 percent of the > population, while the number of Jews who described themselves as religiously > observant continued to drop, from 1.8 percent in 1990 to 1.2 percent, or 2.7 > million people, last year. Researchers plan a broader survey on people who > consider themselves culturally Jewish but aren't religious. > > The study found that the percentage of Americans who identified themselves as > Muslim grew to 0.6 percent of the population, while growth in Eastern > religions such as Buddhism slightly slowed. > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ To subscribe, send a message to: fairfieldlife-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!'Yahoo! 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