Religion Retention Rates

[_Maksutov]

Hindus, Muslims and Jews Have Highest Retention Rates



Mormons fall in the middle, about even with Evangelicals.

http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/chap ... apter2-02/

Millenials seem to be slipping away faster:

http://religionnews.com/2016/04/14/morm ... ds-church/

[_Dr Exiled]

Good for the millenials and the rest of us. Society certainly will be better when we finally break away from religious magical thinking.

[_mocnarf]

What's the retention rate for atheism?

[_Maksutov]

What's the retention rate for atheism?

Still saying atheism is a religion, eh? I'm sure that makes everything simpler for you.

[_ClarkGoble]

It's worth noting that the groups with the highest retention tend to be ethnic minorities. (Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and black protestants) The presumption is that the religious community and especially religious meetings have a function well beyond religion for support. That is if you are a 1st or 2cd generation immigrant there's more incentive to stay with the religion. That's also true in persecuted groups that don't assimilate in quite the same way such as we see with black protestants. (Contrast this with say Irish or Italian Americans after a generation or two where religion stops having that binding effect - primarily due to how 'white' is identified in the US)

Once you exclude those religions then Mormonism does fairly well. How well really depends upon the study you look at. As I've argued several times I find most retention figures for the 90's and earlier to be problematic. I find ARIS data to be the best source. For various reasons I am a bit skeptical of Pew data. (Primarily due to the high religious practice figures they have for self-identifying Mormons) One thing to keep in mind when looking at retention is that different data sources often mean very different things by them. Sometimes you get people making comparisons that are really apples to oranges comparisons. It's safest to only do comparisons within the same dataset and be very careful and explicit when moving out of it.

I did a post a year or so ago on the Pew figures if you are interested in those. Figures at Pew speculate that retention is so high for Mormons and Evangelicals because, somewhat like the minority groups mentioned above, they've created a broadly encompassing subculture. That is it's not just a religion it is a subculture much like there's a Jewish culture that non-Jews don't really understand.

An other post I did was on the success of Mormon retention. Again I'm a bit skeptical of Pew data. One should also note the difference between what Mormons think of as members versus what ARIS does. I try to make some rough estimates to do a comparison. I think figures of 60-70% can be defended. While it's almost impossible to establish, I'd honestly be completely shocked were figures significantly higher than that in the decades prior to the 1990's.

by the way regarding atheism (as opposed to the broader category of Nones) it seems like retention in that belief is fairly low. Pew has the rate at around 40%. Part of the issue one should keep in mind is that these figures are "foamy." That is they represent aggregates yet people are moving in and out of these categories constantly.

[_Fence Sitter]

Clarke,

One feature this board allows is that those who have blogs, like you, can place a link to that blog in their sig line and the board moderator (Shades) will change the color of your screen name to blue to indicate you have a blog. I am not sure how that is done, you may have to pm Shades for that if you are interested.

[_Maksutov]

Part of the issue one should keep in mind is that these figures are "foamy." That is they represent aggregates yet people are moving in and out of these categories constantly.

I really appreciate your thoughtful consideration and expression on these issues. Good to have you on the board.

[_ClarkGoble]

One feature this board allows is that those who have blogs, like you, can place a link to that blog in their sig line and the board moderator (Shades) will change the color of your screen name to blue to indicate you have a blog. I am not sure how that is done, you may have to pm Shades for that if you are interested.

My personal blog is sadly neglected so it's kind of pointless. I'm mainly blogging at Times and Seasons these days. I try and do one post a week although some times it's several weeks. I don't know how much time I'll have to post here either. My writing goes in gusts as they say.

[_Fence Sitter]

One feature this board allows is that those who have blogs, like you, can place a link to that blog in their sig line and the board moderator (Shades) will change the color of your screen name to blue to indicate you have a blog. I am not sure how that is done, you may have to pm Shades for that if you are interested.

My personal blog is sadly neglected so it's kind of pointless. I'm mainly blogging at Times and Seasons these days. I try and do one post a week although some times it's several weeks. I don't know how much time I'll have to post here either. My writing goes in gusts as they say.

Well it is within this forum rules to put a link in your sig line to those blogs also. Up to you of course.

[_LittleNipper]

Hindus, Muslims and Jews Have Highest Retention Rates



Mormons fall in the middle, about even with Evangelicals.

http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/chap ... apter2-02/

Millenials seem to be slipping away faster:

http://religionnews.com/2016/04/14/morm ... ds-church/

I have been told by a former Hindi (now living in the States who is now a very open Christian) that Hinduism and even Moslem beliefs are very fatalistic. As a result he finds many if not most people in India, (where he returns with regularity) are very lazy and set in their ways. They simply accept things as they are and are not by nature open to question or change.

You may also find that many Christian move from say Presbyterianism to Methodism or Baptist beliefs ---- even Pentecostalism. I went from being raised Roman Catholic to being an Independent Fundamentalist. I now attend a Bible Church. I'm still Christian, I'm simply now where God has planted me ---- but I do not consider myself a Roman Catholic. I was open to God's leading.