(The Tennessean) For decades, America’s top religious brand has been “Protestant.” No more.
In the 1960s, two in three Americans called themselves Protestant. Now the Protestant group — both evangelical and mainline — has slid below the statistical waters, down to 48 percent from 53 percent in 2007.
Where did they go? Nowhere, actually. They didn’t switch to a new religious brand, they just let go of any faith affiliation or label.
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released an analytic study Tuesday, “Nones on the Rise,” now that 1 in 5 Americans (19.3 percent) claim no religious identity. That’s up from 15.3 percent in 2007.
1 in 3 under 30 claim ‘none’
This group, called “Nones,” is now the nation’s second-largest category only to Catholics, and outnumbers the top Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptists. The shift is a significant cultural, religious and even political change.
Count former Southern Baptist Chris Dees, 26, in this culture shift. He grew up Baptist in the most religious state in the U.S.: Mississippi.
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