This site http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/atheist4.htm
has a good synopsis of the findings from The American Religious
Identification Study (2001) conducted by the Graduate Center of the
City University of New York
http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/aris_index.htm
The following quotation covers your question, however, a bit
indirectly.
The data were not collected through a question asking about difference
in religious preference between parent and child but rather about
"switching" religion. One must make the inference that much of the
switching was made from a childhood religion.
"It has long been argued by some critics that religious belief is
very much a function of time and geography; those raised in
predominantly Muslim countries, for instance, would embrace that
faith, while those growing up in a Christian, or, say, Roman Catholic
nation or family would accept those religious doctrines.
"There is growing evidence, though, that America is truly becoming
a belief bazaar, with people essentially picking and choosing among
competing denominational viewpoint. The ARIS study found "More than
thirty-three million American adults, about 16% of the total U.S.
adult population report that they have changed their religious
preference or identification." The phrase "a generation of seekers" is
applied to those who are middle-aged baby boomers. The survey also
notes, "switching has involved not only the shift of people's
spiritual loyalties from one religion to another -- which could
reflect some kind of spiritual seeking -- but also, and perhaps more
importantly, a dropping out of religion altogether..."
"One of the biggest growth sectors due to this "switching" is found
among the 29 million-plus Americans who profess "No Religion." A total
of 6,622,494 persons are thought to have "switched in" from other
categories (all of them religious), producing a 23% increase. Only
about 5% of the "No Religion" category monitored in 1990 "found
religion," abandoning disbelief for some creed. Religious groups also
benefited from this "switching in" phenomenon, especially the
Seventh-day Adventists, Buddhists and Presbyterians. The Methodists
category found a startling 25% "switching out," and similar
percentages were found for other mainstream denominations including
the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians."
Search strategy: from personal bookmarks on Religion
Nellie Bly |
