# What is the dominant religion in the U.S.A.?



## Wayne

Another seque, this from my own poll.

Q. What is the dominant religion in the U.S.A.?

If we were to conclude that effective evangelism requires a good knowledge of the dominant religion in your region, then what is the dominant religion in the U.S.A.?


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## Southern Presbyterian

Self worship.


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## rbcbob

Paganism. America, especially Suburbania, is rife with it. Otherwise Avatar would barely have grossed a mere two or three hundred million!


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## au5t1n

My own personal blend of a few distorted Christian concepts here (e.g. heaven, angels, etc.), and a little patriotic religion mixed in there, followed by a small dash of whatever-makes-me-feel-good and a sprinkle of it's-all-the-same-anyway, and you get American religion.


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## Andres

cultural Christianity


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## au5t1n

Oh! I found it!

[video=youtube;HUr3MH3jBtI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUr3MH3jBtI&feature=player_embedded[/video]

The questioner was being a bit shady, but nonetheless...I think this captures American religion well.


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## wfl3

Moral, therapeutic, deism - Steven Smith via Michael Horton.


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## Semper Fidelis

I think this is a good description of American religion: 



> A religious mainstream which evolved organically, marked by significant ethnic and cultural diversity. This mainstream evolved both by innovation from within, and by assimilation of external traditions or cults into the religious fold. The result is an enormous variety of religious traditions, ranging from innumerable small, unsophisticated cults to major religious movements with millions of adherents spread over the entire nation.
> 
> Prominent themes include (but are not restricted to):
> 
> ethics/duties
> the continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth
> action and subsequent reaction
> various paths or practices



Hint: I just described a major religion but removed common terms to highlight how closely American "spirituality" follows the major tenants of this religion.


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## Mushroom

Sounds like Buddhism.


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## Edward

Without accepting what appears to be a basic premise that the USA is a single region, on a countrywide basis I'd go with humanism, probably deistic humanism. 

In the region where I currently reside, I'd say the dominant religion is Dispensationalism. 

And in the city where I live, it would be Arminianism, found at large Baptist, Methodist, Bible and Roman churches, with Islam probably second.


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## kvanlaan

Me.

That is the dominant one, with a little Jesus-of-my-own-making thrown in to make people feel better.


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## LawrenceU

kvanlaan said:


> Me.
> 
> That is the dominant one, with a little Jesus-of-my-own-making thrown in to make people feel better.


 
Yep.


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## Rich Koster

Now that the religion has been sifted out, see how it closely works with the culture? If you trash the culture with your initial contact, you lose your avenue for dialogue. Smugness never wins in a battle. Truth with humility does. Meditate on 1Cor 9:19-23.


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## Scott1

The pop culture is hedonism with a moralist relativism. More broadly, we have inherited abundance and prosperity and a form of order unlike any other in the world, based on biblical principles, but it is a faint echo in the institutions of this generation. Yet, a broad remnant remains.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian

Sheilaism


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## dudley

According to the latest pew surveys in the USA. The United States is still 51% Protestant. However that number has been held because of the 15 million ex roman catholics in the U.S. who are now Protestants like me. The roman catholic church has been hit hardest with declines - 30 million have left in the last 2 decades, 15 million are Protestant and 15 million have no affiliation. The rc church has only remained steady in numbers because of the 30 million Hipanics who have immigrated to the U.S. and took my place and all the other empty pew spots.


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## Wayne

Cross-posting this entry, but over on the Triablogue, there is a review of the new Alice in Wonderland movie. The reviewer makes an insightful point:



> Does this reflect the secularization of our own society–especially among the cultural elite? Put another way, I wonder if the previous interest in peoples and cultures other than our own doesn’t reflect a Christian outlook.
> 
> When you study the Bible you enter a vanished world. To be missionary you immerse yourself in a foreign culture.
> 
> Christianity is outward-looking. But with the loss of Christian vision, the social circle contracts. We retreat into our xenophobic cubicles.



So part of what we encounter in our evangelism is a culture in retreat--a culture that is withdrawing into millions of little "Me" holes.


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## Theoretical

Semper Fidelis said:


> I think this is a good description of American religion:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A religious mainstream which evolved organically, marked by significant ethnic and cultural diversity. This mainstream evolved both by innovation from within, and by assimilation of external traditions or cults into the religious fold. The result is an enormous variety of religious traditions, ranging from innumerable small, unsophisticated cults to major religious movements with millions of adherents spread over the entire nation.
> 
> Prominent themes include (but are not restricted to):
> 
> ethics/duties
> the continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth
> action and subsequent reaction
> various paths or practices
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hint: I just described a major religion but removed common terms to highlight how closely American "spirituality" follows the major tenants of this religion.
Click to expand...

 
My vote's Hinduism.


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## T.A.G.

False Convertism


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## SolaScriptura

austinww said:


> The questioner was being a bit shady, but nonetheless...I think this captures American religion well.


 
I agree that it does a good job of "capturing" American religion well... particularly "Bible belt religion."


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## SemperEruditio

"_Therapeutic-moralistic-deism"_


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## Steve Curtis

As was mentioned above, 51% claim Protestantism. Add to that the professing Roman Catholics, and it seems that "Christianity" remains the majority report, Of course, the majority report among that majority would distill to rank Pelagianism which, in turn, renders it virtually indistinguishable from every religious expression other than biblical Christianity.


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## creativeamanda

We have this conversation often in Sunday School--51% of Americans may claim the Protestant faith, but a major percentage of those believe in moral relativism--what's right for you may or may not be right for me. 

Christianity has become plagued with a mixture of a little truth with Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, pagan beliefs, but mostly the culture of "me".


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## TimV

Dominant can mean who's got the power at a given time. Under Bush, it was a weird combination of Christian Zionism and neocon Judaism. I'm not sure what's going on now.


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