A column of current statistics selected especially for Christian communicators
World population in 1991: 5,384,575,000
Number of practicing Christians: 1,226,514,600
Percent of men who say they deal with depression by trying to figure out their problems: 23
Percent who say they deal with depression by watching television: 35
Percentage of married Americans who have committed adultery: 31
Americans who own a VCR: 179,520,000
Number who can’t program it: 143,616,000
Dogs that sleep in their owners’ beds: 1,275,000
Of the 10 biggest U.S. cities, the number with a non-Hispanic white majority: 3
In 1980: 6
Percentage of American adults who claim to be Christian: 86.5
Percentage who claim no religion: 7.5
Percentage of Christians who accept Jesus before turning age 18: 80
Americans who believe in ghosts: 1 in 4
Who think they’ve communicated with the dead: 1 in 6
Cost to get a tattoo: $150
Cost to remove a tattoo: $2,000
Of the 12 fastest growing U.S. congregations, number that are predominantly black: 8
Betting on Heaven
More Americans believe in heaven today than in 1981. A Gallup poll reveals the increase (up from 71 to 78 percent) along with an increase in those who believe in hell (up from 53 to 60 percent).
Of those who call themselves evangelicals, 88 percent claim they have an excellent or good chance of going to heaven. Only 61 percent of those with no religion say the same thing.
A few evangelicals (3 percent), by contrast, believe they have an excellent or good chance of going to hell. Nine percent of those with no religion believe they are headed for hell.
Those 18 to 29 years old believe in the afterlife more than older adults: 84 percent of the younger group believe in heaven; 71 percent believe in hell.
– U.S. News & World Report,
Mar. 25, 1991
The Ten Suggestions
Moral erosion continues in America, according to James Patterson and Peter Kim. They report that 74 percent of
Americans will steal from those who won’t miss it, and 64 percent will lie for convenience as long as no one is hurt.
Most Americans (93 percent) say they alone decide moral issues, basing their decisions on their own experience or whims. Eighty-four percent say they would break the rules of their own religion. And 81 percent have violated a law they felt to be inappropriate.
Only 30 percent say they would be willing to die for their religious beliefs or for God.
– Reported in The Day America Told the Truth
(Prentice Hall, 1991)
How Important Is Religion?
In 1990, 56 percent of Americans considered religion to be very important in their lives (up from 53 percent in 1987, but still far short of 75 percent in 1952). Church attendance is, however, down from 43 percent in 1989 to 40 percent in 1990.
Women (63 percent) more than men (48 percent) consider religion important
Protestants (63 percent) more than Catholics (51 percent) and Jews (20 percent)
Blacks (77 percent) more than whites (53 percent)
Those with incomes under $20,000 (61 percent) more than those with incomes over $50,000 (47 percent).
– Reported in The Princeton Religion Research Center’s Emerging Trends,
Apr. 1991
SOURCES – World population: Context, 5/1/91. Depressed men: Roper Organization, cited in Harper’s Index, 12/89. Adultery: James Patterson and Peter Kim, The Day America Told the Truth (Prentice Hall Press, 1991). VCRs: USA Today, 5/20/91. Dogs: USA Today, 5/20/91. U.S. Cities: U.S. News & World Report, 4/8/91. Christian America: ICR Survey Research Group (Media, PA) for Barry Kosmin and Seymour Lachman (City University, New York), reported in National & International Religion Report, 4/8/91. Teenage conversions: Pentecostal Evangel, 4/14/91. Ghosts: Gallup poll, cited in Bottom Line, 5/30/91. Tattoo costs: M Inc., cited in Bottom Line, 5/30/91. Black congregations: Chicago Sun-Times, 5/6/91.
Leadership Fall 1991 p. 89
Copyright © 1991 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
