"The survey is conducted by researchers at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., and funded by the Lilly Endowment and the Posen Foundation. Conducted in 1990, 2001 and last year, it is one of the nation's largest major surveys of religion."

Google News has hundreds of articles about this, and many focus on different specific areas of the country, so I'm just linking to the list of articles:

http://news.google.com/news?pz=1&ned=us&ncl=dicoD6c6wa0kvWM6QyQuSg-372OtM&topic=h

The ONLY religious tradition that grew in all 50 states within the last 7 years, was people claiming no religion at all.

The term they use is "people claiming no religion" so it includes atheists as well as agnostics.  They did this survey in 1990, 2001, and 2008.  The analysis of the 54,461 interviews from 2008 has now been completed and released.  Most of the comparisons are between 1990 and 2008 numbers.

In those 18 years, these changes occured:

The non-religious increased from 8.2% to 15%.

Christians (all types) decreased from 86% to 76%.

Jews decreased from 1.8% to 1.2%.

Within the umbrella of Christianity:

Those who attend megachurches increased from 5% to 11.8%.

Baptists decreased from 19.3% to 15.8%.

Methodists decreased from 8% to 5%.

Mainline Protestants (including Methodists and Lutherans) decreased from 19% to 13%.

One of the articles mentioned that Islam, Mormonism, Wicca, and paganism are all on the rise in America as well, but I couldn't find the numbers in any of the articles I looked through.

One theory I read said that this isn't because more people are losing faith, but because more agnostics are making up their mind and picking a side.

Rubang's thoughts:

There are now more nonreligious people in America than Jews and gays put together.  When do we get our own TV shows?  Something like Godless Eye for the Religious Guy?  I just watched a news clip about this survey, and the reporter pointed out at least 3 times that atheists are "still a very small minority, but becoming more vocal."  Why don't they point that out multiple times every time they interview anybody who's Jewish or Queer?  Or black or Hispanic for that matter?  (It seems that nonreligious are just about tied with Hispanics, and barely ahead of blacks now.)

Can you imagine how insulting it is when any time you're interviewed the reporter has to introduce you by saying "Hispanics are a small minority, but they are growing in number every year.  Well, let's see what they have to say for themselves about their crazy different lifestyle before they go straight to Hell, unlike the rest of us!"

Anyway, I thought all these numbers were interesting.  The survey also says a lot about how the Catholic demographic is changing from Irish Catholics to Hispanic Catholics due to immigration and whatnot.

Thoughts, comments, etc?

Ronald Reagan would be proud.

One day the non-religious and the religious will have a great battle in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the head of the Gouda watermelon.

I think those numbers are rather saddening. Not from the "we need teh religion!!!1!" standpoint (since I'm an Agnostic myself), but just from the disenfranchised nature of modern humanity. There is no collectivity, just a random group of individuals who happen to coexist in the same space.

While I appreciate humanity's movement toward "progress" (whatever the fuck that may mean), there is a certain romanticism that is lost by everyone standing on their own island, distanced from the world.

You know, there are other things that binds us besides religion. According to your view, America never was united anyway (since different faiths have lived there for centuries now.)

Rubang, I'd suggest you look up the documentary "Religulous". (I hope I spelled that right). Bill Mayer's own crusade against all faiths. It's a bit of a Micheal Moore editing things out of context documentary but at least it's hilarious. Mayer also made the same statement - non-religious people where at 16 percent in his documentary and indeed eclipse a lot of other groups who do have lobbies (he also mentions blacks and the NRA for example)

The funniest part of that movie to me was when they interviewed the guy who ran the church that revolved around marijuana. That and when Bill Maher was talking to the rent-a-Jesus at this replica of Jesus' old stomping grounds.

I'm agnostic myself, and don't find this surprising in the least.

That wasn't really my point. I'm not talking about America, I'm talking about the world at large.

Through my studies I have grown to appreciate medieval christianity. Modern Christianity doesn't do much for me.

I think the problem with religions in general, especially the 'world' religions is that they probably should have remained isolated in the regions in which they came from. I think that the void that is looking to be filled will be done so, to some degree, in the fields of philosophy and the arts. It's hard to look back on western civilizations artistic achievements without seeing religion's fingerprint but that should come (as it has been for quite some time).
" There is no collectivity, just a random group of individuals who happen to coexist in the same space." - Personally - I think this comes more from the inflated egos that are quite plentiful within the United States. The rather selfish rugged individualist history I think plays a larger part in the lacked collectivity. (I haven't seen the whole us so I don't know) I did see much stronger communal bonds in Madera, Portugal when I was there for six weeks in 2003 then I ever have in the US in general.

This idea that non religious people are somehow lacking some sort of moral fiber, or unable to be spiritual is ridiculous..and frustrating to me as well.

Not surprised. Everything ebbs and flows over time, to expect the zeitgeist to stay the same is foolish.