Thursday, March 13, 2008

Face of Louisiana religion

The Pew Forum U.S. Religious Landscape Survey has generated lots of buzz about its conclusions that people are don't seem to be committed to their denominations anymore.

Yesterday's Conversations section featured a piece by Peter Huff, Centenary religion professor, analyzing this trend.

The survey has some interesting data specific to Louisiana. Here's a few tidbits:

* 31 percent of the state's population considers themselves Evangelical (which includes Baptists, Pentecostals and several non-denominational churches)

* 28 percent of Louisianians are Catholic

* 20 percent belong to historically black churches

* 8 percent are unaffiliated, compared to 16 percent nationwide

On a national level the survey compared religions on various demographic levels, and here's a few of those conclusions:

* More people in the 30 to 49 age group are likely to be unaffiliated than those in the 18-29 group.

* Jehovah's Witnesses and Catholics are the most racially diverse groups.

* Hindus and Mormons are most likely to be married and least likely to be divorced

* Women are the majority of members in Christian churches and men are the majority in non-Christian traditions

Have fun digging through yourself. Any insights? Please share.

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