The percentage of Protestant adults in the U.S. has reached a low of 48 percent, the first time that Pew Forum on Religion & Public Lifehas
reported with certainty that the number has fallen below 50 percent.
The drop has long been anticipated and comes at a time when no
Protestants are on the U.S. Supreme Court and the Republicans have their
first presidential ticket with no Protestant nominees.
Among the reasons for the change a spike in the number of American adults who say they have no religion. The Pew study,
released Tuesday, found that about 20 percent of Americans say they
have no religious affiliation, an increase from 15 percent in the last
five years.
And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast. Rev. 13:4.
"He had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." Though professing to be followers of the Lamb of God, men become imbued with the spirit of the dragon. They profess to be meek and humble but they speak and legislate with the spirit of Satan, showing by their actions that they are the opposite of what they profess to be. This lamb-like power unites with the dragon in making war upon those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. And Satan unites with Protestants and Papists, acting in consort with them as the god of this world, dictating to men as if they were the subjects of his kingdom, to be handled and governed and controlled as he pleases. If men will not agree to trample under foot the commandments of God, the spirit of the dragon is revealed. They are imprisoned, brought before councils, and fined. "He causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads." "He had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." Thus Satan usurps the prerogatives of Jehovah. The man of sin sits in the seat of God, proclaiming himself to be God, and acting above God.
There is a marked contrast between those who bear the seal of God and those who worship the beast and his image. The Lord's faithful servants will receive the bitterest persecution from false teachers, who will not hear the word of God, and who prepare stumbling blocks to put in the way of those who would hear. But God's people are not to fear. Satan cannot go beyond his limit. The Lord will be the defense of His people. He regards the injury done to His servants for the truth's sake as done to Himself. When the last decision has been made, when all have taken sides, either for Christ and the commandments or for the great apostate, God will arise in His power, and the mouths of those who have blasphemed against Him will be forever stopped. Every opposing power will receive its punishment.
UN, Papal Rome & America shown as the Dragon Beast and False prophet here
Or see the study here
Among the reasons for the change a spike in the number of American adults who say they have no religion. The Pew study,
released Tuesday, found that about 20 percent of Americans say they
have no religious affiliation, an increase from 15 percent in the last
five years.
Scholars have long debated whether people who say they no longer belong
to a religious group should be considered secular. While the category as
defined by Pew researchers includes atheists, it also encompasses
majorities of people who say they believe in God, and a notable minority
who pray daily or consider themselves "spiritual" but not "religious."
Still, Pew found overall that most of the unaffiliated aren't actively
seeking another religious home, indicating that their ties with
organized religion are permanently broken.
Growth among those with no religion has been a major preoccupation of
American faith leaders who worry that the United States, a highly
religious country, would go the way of Western Europe, where church
attendance has plummeted. Pope Benedict XVI has partly dedicated his
pontificate to combating secularism in the West. This week in Rome, he
is convening a three-week synod, or assembly, of bishops from around the
world aimed at bringing back Roman Catholics who have left the church.
The trend also has political implications. American voters who describe
themselves as having no religion vote overwhelmingly for Democrats. Pew
found Americans with no religion support abortion rights and gay
marriage at a much higher-rate than the U.S. public at large. These
"nones" are an increasing segment of voters who are registered as
Democrats or lean toward the party, growing from 17 percent to 24
percent over the last five years. The religiously unaffiliated are
becoming as important a constituency to Democrats as evangelicals are to
Republicans, Pew said.
The Pew analysis, conducted with PBS' "Religion & Ethics
Newsweekly," is based on several surveys, including a poll of nearly
3,000 adults conducted June 28-July 9, 2012. The finding on the
Protestant majority is based on responses from a larger group of more
than 17,000 people and has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.9
percentage points, Pew researchers said.
Pew said it had also previously calculated a drop slightly below 50
percent among U.S. Protestants, but those findings had fallen within the
margin of error; the General Social Survey, which is conducted by the
University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center, reported for
2010 that the percentage of U.S. Protestants was around 46.7 percent.
Analysts disagree on whether the increasing numbers of nondenominational
Christians should be counted as Protestant. Pew researchers do include
independent Christians in their Protestant figure.
Researchers have been struggling for decades to find a definitive reason
for the steady rise in those with no religion.' The spread of
secularism in Western Europe was often viewed as a byproduct of growing
wealth in the region. Yet among industrialized nations, the United
States stood out for its deep religiosity in the face of increasing
wealth.
Now, religion scholars say the decreased religiosity in the United
States could reflect a change in how Americans describe their religious
lives. In 2007, 60 percent of people who said they seldom or never
attend religious services still identified themselves as part of a
particular religious tradition. In 2012, that statistic fell to 50
percent, according to the Pew report.
"Part of what's going on here is that the stigma associated with not
being part of any religious community has declined," said John Green, a
specialist in religion and politics at the University of Akron, who
advised Pew on the survey. "In some parts of the country, there is still
a stigma. But overall, it's not the way it used to be."
The Pew study has found the growth in unaffiliated Americans spans a
broad range of groups: men and women, college graduates and those
without a college degree, people earning less than $30,000 annually and
those earning $75,000 or more. However, along ethnic lines, the largest
jump in "nones" has been among whites. One-fifth of whites describe
themselves as having no religion.
More growth in "nones" is expected. One-third of adults under age 30
have no religious affiliation, compared to 9 percent of people 65 and
older. Pew researchers wrote that "young adults today are much more
likely to be unaffiliated than previous generations were at a similar
stage in their lives," and aren't expected to become more religiously
active as they age.
____
Online: http://www.pewforum.org/Unaffiliated/nones-on-the-rise.aspx
The
Threefold Union of Religion
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the
dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the
false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles,
which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to
gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Rev. 16:13, 14.
By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of
the law of God, our nation [the United States] will disconnect herself
fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand
across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall
reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the
influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every
principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government,
and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and
delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous
working of Satan and that the end is near.
Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday
sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the
former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of
sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be
foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of
spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the
Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this
country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of
conscience. ..
Papists, Protestants, and worldling will alike accept the form of
godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand
movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the
long-expected millennium.
When our nation [the United States] shall so abjure the principles of
its government as to enact a Sunday law, Protestantism will in this act
join hands with popery; it will be nothing else than giving life to the
tyranny which has long been eagerly watching its opportunity to spring
again into active despotism. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast. Rev. 13:4.
"He had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." Though professing to be followers of the Lamb of God, men become imbued with the spirit of the dragon. They profess to be meek and humble but they speak and legislate with the spirit of Satan, showing by their actions that they are the opposite of what they profess to be. This lamb-like power unites with the dragon in making war upon those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. And Satan unites with Protestants and Papists, acting in consort with them as the god of this world, dictating to men as if they were the subjects of his kingdom, to be handled and governed and controlled as he pleases. If men will not agree to trample under foot the commandments of God, the spirit of the dragon is revealed. They are imprisoned, brought before councils, and fined. "He causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads." "He had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." Thus Satan usurps the prerogatives of Jehovah. The man of sin sits in the seat of God, proclaiming himself to be God, and acting above God.
There is a marked contrast between those who bear the seal of God and those who worship the beast and his image. The Lord's faithful servants will receive the bitterest persecution from false teachers, who will not hear the word of God, and who prepare stumbling blocks to put in the way of those who would hear. But God's people are not to fear. Satan cannot go beyond his limit. The Lord will be the defense of His people. He regards the injury done to His servants for the truth's sake as done to Himself. When the last decision has been made, when all have taken sides, either for Christ and the commandments or for the great apostate, God will arise in His power, and the mouths of those who have blasphemed against Him will be forever stopped. Every opposing power will receive its punishment.
UN, Papal Rome & America shown as the Dragon Beast and False prophet here
Or see the study here
