You may have seen the A.P.-sourced articles out today on the just-released results of the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey (previous surveys were in 1990 and 2001). The details from the source, Trinity College, are here.

From the report "Highlights" page:

The ARIS 2008 survey was carried out during February-November 2008 and collected answers from 54,461 respondents who were questioned in English or Spanish.

The American population self-identifies as predominantly Christian but Americans are slowly becoming less Christian.

• 86% of American adults identified as Christians in 1990 and 76% in 2008.

• The historic Mainline churches and denominations have experienced the steepest declines while the non-denominational Christian identity has been trending upward particularly since 2001.

• The challenge to Christianity in the U.S. does not come from other religions but rather from a rejection of all forms of organized religion.

34% of American adults considered themselves "Born Again or evangelical Christians" in 2008.

The U. S. population continues to show signs of becoming less religious, with one out of every five Americans failing to indicate a religious identity in 2008.

• The "Nones" (no stated religious preference, atheist, or agnostic) continue to grow, though at a much slower pace than in the 1990s, from 8.2% in 1990, to 14.1% in 2001, to 15.0% in 2008.

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I've heard lots of stats of this sort thrown about recently, and have often wondered where they come from and if they're correct. It's useful to go to the source (or, at least one, that seems reliable), and also have the latest numbers.

~ Becky in Tucson