Religious Affiliation

"The Rise of the Nones" is one of 10 trends changing American life, according to Time magazine's March 12 cover story. That's because the "nones" - those who mark "none" on surveys that ask them to identify their religious affiliation - are the fastest-growing religious group in the United States. Not surprisingly, the increase in the unaffiliated comes at the expense of America's mainstream religions, which means that Christianity is taking the biggest hit. Mainstream Protestant churches have lost more than a third of their members since 1960.

Re "Stymied by Vatican," Feb. 16 Pointing the finger at the Vatican for responding too slowly to Cardinal Roger M. Mahony's reports on priest misconduct in the 1990s and early 2000s diverts attention from the former archbishop's failure to report pedophile priests to civil authorities for prosecution. The issue is Mahony's handling of pedophile priests in the 1980s - when he covered up for them, failed to report them to law enforcement and allowed them to continue ministering to the congregation - not the slow Vatican response or how effective the cardinal's priest abuse reforms were in the 2000s.

Protestants, whose ideals of hard work, individualism and democratic governance have fundamentally shaped the national character, no longer make up a majority of Americans for the first time in history, according to a new study released Tuesday. The study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that Protestants now make up 48% of Americans, compared with nearly two-thirds in the 1970s. The decline, concentrated among white members of both mainline and evangelical denominations, is amplified by an absence of Protestants on the U.S. Supreme Court and the Republican presidential ticket for the first time.

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration, trying to defuse one of the most contentious issues in its healthcare law, proposed Friday a new way to shield religiously affiliated organizations, such as hospitals and universities, from having to provide contraceptive coverage directly to their employees. Instead, the employees would obtain coverage through a separate, private insurance policy at no cost. The proposed rule also reaffirms that churches and other houses of worship themselves are exempt from the contraceptive mandate in Obama's healthcare overhaul, and makes it easier for institutions to show that they qualify for the exemption.

I'm a "None. " That's what pollsters call Americans who respond on national surveys to the question "What is your religious affiliation?" with a single word: "None. " According to the Pew Research Center, the ranks of the Nones have ballooned in recent years, making the fastest-growing religious affiliation no affiliation. Between 1972 and 1989, about 7% of Americans identified as having no formal religious affiliation. However, between 1990 and 2012, that figure jumped to 19.6%.

Despite gains by Jews and Catholics, mainline Protestants still make up a far larger share of the elite of American social, business and political circles than their percentage in the population at large, a study shows. Episcopalians, Presbyterians and United Church of Christ members--together less than 5% of Americans--account for more than a third of the people in "Who's Who in America" who listed a religious affiliation, the Purdue University study found.

A Nov. 27 letter writer lists Second Harvest Food Banks as a "good work" sponsored by the Catholic Church. America's Second Harvest and its member food banks, while working closely with Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services, Salvation Army and many other faith-based organizations, are nonsectarian charities with no religious affiliation. CHRIS TABER Past President Second Harvest Food Bank of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties

Even before he announced his support for same-sex marriage, President Obama was badly trailing Republican Mitt Romney among evangelical Christians, the group most committed to traditional forms of marriage, according to a new poll about the attitudes of religious voters. Romney led Obama by 68% to 19% among evangelicals in the poll released Thursday by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Religion News Service. The nationwide poll was conducted over four days ending Sunday, well before Obama's remarks about same-sex marriage.

As he ran for the White House, John F. Kennedy assured skeptical Americans that he was "not the Catholic candidate for president," but rather a "candidate for president who happens also to be Catholic." In 1961, the year he took office, Catholics accounted for 18.8% of Congress. On Tuesday, when the 111th Congress is sworn in, about 30% of its membership will be Catholic, according to a recent analysis by Congressional Quarterly and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

There's been a lot of talk about where faith-based groups stand on the issues and the candidates in the presidential campaign, but not so much about the faithless. Now the Secular Coalition for America, an advocacy group for atheists, has issued a report card on the candidates that knocks both major party candidates for injecting religion into politics, but expresses a clear preference for President Obama over Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Romney gets a grade of F overall for stated positions that advocate a lowering of the wall between church and state and that suggest his Mormon faith plays a strong role in his political decision-making.

I'm a "None. " That's what pollsters call Americans who respond on national surveys to the question "What is your religious affiliation?" with a single word: "None. " According to the Pew Research Center, the ranks of the Nones have ballooned in recent years, making the fastest-growing religious affiliation no affiliation. Between 1972 and 1989, about 7% of Americans identified as having no formal religious affiliation. However, between 1990 and 2012, that figure jumped to 19.6%.

There's been a lot of talk about where faith-based groups stand on the issues and the candidates in the presidential campaign, but not so much about the faithless. Now the Secular Coalition for America, an advocacy group for atheists, has issued a report card on the candidates that knocks both major party candidates for injecting religion into politics, but expresses a clear preference for President Obama over Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Romney gets a grade of F overall for stated positions that advocate a lowering of the wall between church and state and that suggest his Mormon faith plays a strong role in his political decision-making.

Protestants, whose ideals of hard work, individualism and democratic governance have fundamentally shaped the national character, no longer make up a majority of Americans for the first time in history, according to a new study released Tuesday. The study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that Protestants now make up 48% of Americans, compared with nearly two-thirds in the 1970s. The decline, concentrated among white members of both mainline and evangelical denominations, is amplified by an absence of Protestants on the U.S. Supreme Court and the Republican presidential ticket for the first time.

Re "His conservatism may be article of faith for Romney," Sept. 21 Neither the government nor the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will pay a needy church member's mortgage, but both offer food assistance. When a church does it, it's a helping hand; when we all do it (with our tax revenue), it's a handout. According to this view, a family of four with a monthly income of $1,200 (and not paying income tax) is self-reliant and taking personal responsibility if it accepts help from the Mormon Church, but it believes itself a victim if it accepts government help.

Even before he announced his support for same-sex marriage, President Obama was badly trailing Republican Mitt Romney among evangelical Christians, the group most committed to traditional forms of marriage, according to a new poll about the attitudes of religious voters. Romney led Obama by 68% to 19% among evangelicals in the poll released Thursday by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Religion News Service. The nationwide poll was conducted over four days ending Sunday, well before Obama's remarks about same-sex marriage.

It was fascinating to read the responses to “Letting Doubters in the Door,” my Sunday Op-Ed on the “nones”  -- those who answer "no religious affiliation" when asked by pollsters -- and a new open approach to religion and spirituality in the United States today.  The responses nicely mirror the two major reactions that those of us working in the "emerging church" are  seeing across the country, from more conservative or traditional...

The 105th Congress, now getting down to business, may not look like America in terms of class, race or gender. But when it comes to religion, members are fairly representative of the nation, according to a new survey of congressional religious affiliations.

"The Rise of the Nones" is one of 10 trends changing American life, according to Time magazine's March 12 cover story. That's because the "nones" - those who mark "none" on surveys that ask them to identify their religious affiliation - are the fastest-growing religious group in the United States. Not surprisingly, the increase in the unaffiliated comes at the expense of America's mainstream religions, which means that Christianity is taking the biggest hit. Mainstream Protestant churches have lost more than a third of their members since 1960.

For days President Obama had been hammered over a regulation in the 2010 healthcare law that required religiously affiliated hospitals, charities and universities to provide birth control coverage for their female employees even if that conflicted with church teachings. On Friday he tried to end the debate with what he called an "accommodation. " The employees still will be offered free birth control coverage. But the benefit will come directly from their insurers, and no religious groups' money will be used.