Religion/ Spiritual Statistics
- Catherine Moscatt
- May 13
- 3 min read
After a lively family discussion with my parents and younger brother, I realized we all had different perspectives on religion/ spirituality and we all disagreed on some level or other. This piqued my interest which is why I chose to do this research for my blog today.
I was surprised at how little Jews there were. My dad says thats because unlike Christians, they are not a conversion faith. They don’t send missionaries to the four corners of the globe. Incidentally my aunt is now converting to Judaism (my cousin is also a cantor). I don’t give my blog over to politics but I will always be there to defend the Jewish faith. They have been the target of so much hate over the years. They are basically a scapegoat for every problem on Earth.
Some Fast Facts:
the biggest Christian population is in the United States. I was raised Catholic. I made my communion at eight and my confirmation at fourteen, choosing the name Bernadette. I went to Catholic high school and was active in two youth groups, one Catholic, one Protestant. I went to a Jesuit college. Growing up I didn’t pay much attention to the differences between the denominations. As an adult I think I know enough to identify more with Protestantism. According to Popular Education half of Christians are Catholic and 37% are Protestant.
The biggest Islam populations are located in Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Among the major religious groups, Islam also has the the highest fertility rate (from 2015-2020). This could be because girls complete less school (generally) and have babies instead. This is true in countries where jobs and opportunities are less attainable for girls.
Since we are speaking about birth, the Vatican also speaks out against modern methods of birth control which include the pill which I’ve been on since I was seventeen. It’s another reason I like less stringent methods of religion.
Islam is the official religion in 27 countries and out of the 27 countries eight are “Islamic States”
It is estimated by Popular Education that the amount of nonbelievers will actually decrease by 2060 (even though right now they seem to be everywhere).
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45% of Americans say religion is very important to them, 26% say its fairly important and 28% saying its not important at all. How do you feel?
For the first time less than 50% of the population said religion is very important to them
21% Americans say they attend services once a week, 9% say “almost” every week and 11% say attend once a month. This is a point of contention between me and my Dad. I usually get something out of church services but usually on weekends I am with my boyfriend and don’t go. I find other ways to connect with God which I suspect my dad doesn’t think are enough. My prayers aren’t just prayers, they are conversation. They are a dialogue between me and God. I don’t need the pews of a church for that. I write letters to God in my journal. I offer up prayers of gratitude for even the smallest of blessings God has bestowed on me. I don’t go to church alot now but I feel like I am very close to God.
So where do you fall? What do you believe? Let me know in the comments below. And you know if you are skeptic I will say its never too late to start believing in something.
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