As reported here in The Economist:
the ranks of all religious Americans rose by 10.6m (7%) ...
overall population grew by 7.5% ...
the number of Episcopalians and Methodists dropped by 19% each ...
the Lutherans plunged by 25% ...
Presbyterians lost nearly 1m (40%) ...
The Southern Baptist Convention shrank 11% ...
non-denominational Christian churches recruited 9m new members ...
Catholics claim they gained nearly 3m members (a 5% increase) despite closing over 1,100 churches.
Color me skeptical.
Start with the big number.
Average population grew 7.1% or 22 million over the period, according to POPTHM, which is the data of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, not 7.5% as stated in the story.
The data of the U.S. Census, as shown by POP, shows average population grew by even less over the period: 6.97% or 21.6 million, not 7.5% as stated in the story.
Obviously these are estimates, not counts, but the reported overall population growth claim in the story is up to a half-point larger than these big baseline numbers reported by the official organs of the U.S. government.
One half point of 310 million is 1.55 million people. One false move and you've just wiped out the entire denomination of the American Baptist Churches USA. When you study religion in America, you are discussing a bewildering number of splinter groups, many of which are simply microscopic in size.
It's extremely difficult to get data about groups like that right. Fully 40% are left out of even good surveys.
We are then confidently given to believe that hardly half the population growth went on to affiliate with a religion over the period: 10.6 million out of something north of 22 million, but by the end of the story you then have to believe also that 9 million new non-denoms plus 3 million new Catholics still equals 10.6 million.
Hello, is there an economist in the house?
Separately, there is the recent claim, supported by Pew, that Mormonism is the fastest reproducing American religious group, the implications of which go wholly unaddressed by the story.
On the other hand, reported Mormon membership in the U.S. grew by fewer than 700k 2011-2023, according to the latest Mormon data.
As pointed out previously, Christians themselves variously and significantly exaggerate how much money they give to their churches. Relying on their statements of membership in surveys even such as this one is . . . problematic.
They resemble in these respects nothing so much as the wider culture of exaggeration.
I'm doing great. Everything is fine. Awesome, in fact.
57% can't afford a $1,000 emergency. 85% say the country is headed in the wrong direction. The world is going to end in 2031 if we don't address climate change.
