And that would mean, according to many Christians, that after a 2,000 year wait, the end of time is coming soon.In fact, in 2006, twenty-five percent of Americans believed it was at least somewhat likely that Jesus Christ would return to Earth in 2007, according to a poll from the Associated Press.
The poll, conducted by the international polling firm Ipsos, looked at the public's predictions about what would occur in 2007.
A whopping 46 percent of white evangelical Christians believed it at least somewhat likely that Jesus would return in 2007, while 17 percent of Catholics and 10 percent of those with no religion feel the same way.
The poll, conducted Dec. 12-14, was based on telephone interviews with 1,000 adults from all states except Hawaii and Alaska.
At the same time, more and more U.S. adults either have none or do not identify with a particular church, although the country remains highly religious, another survey said on Monday.
The report from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found a constantly shifting landscape of religious loyalties, with the Roman Catholic Church losing more adherents than any other single U.S. religious group.
One in 10 Americans now describes himself as a former Catholic, it found, although that church's membership is constantly being replenished by immigrants, particularly Latinos.
Despite predictions that the United States would follow Europe's path toward secularization, the U.S. population "remains highly religious in its beliefs and practices," the survey concluded.
But John Green, a senior researcher with the Pew Forum, told reporters American religion appears headed for more diversity, with the likelihood the country will be "less Protestant and less Christian" in the future than it is now.
The survey, based on interviews with more than 36,000 U.S. adults, found 78.4 percent of the population identify themselves as Christian. Of U.S. adults in general, it said 51.3 percent were Protestant, 23.9 percent Catholic, 1.7 percent Mormon, 0.7 percent Jehovah's Witness and less than 0.3 percent each Greek or Russian Orthodox.
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As this article points out, I think that most Americans still believe in God and believe in morality and humanity and the anchor of a sound belief system that can give them stability in their lives but are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with organized religion and the hypocrisy of outward worship and the taking of money rather than the giving of money to aid the poor and disadvantaged. There are instances where organized religion has opened the door to an avenue of abuse-- not just sexual, but emotional as well. People are bright enough to recognize that truth within them that God loves them and they don't need an abusive minister or fellow congregants' approval for God to approve of and love them. Leaving organized religion takes that power of unfair judgment and hypocritical abuse out of the hands of ministers and fellow congregants in liberating the individual and allowing that individual to worship and serve God in more personal and meaningful ways. And this is deeply unfortunate because a congregation of people who really "get" the true point of religion could work mighty miracles throughout society and the eschewing of the real believers and pure in heart by the hypocrites and abusers robs not only the congregation of its benefits but society as well, as pure in heart individuals who worship and serve on their own have far fewer resources and ability to improve society than an entire congregation, town, city, state or nation of genuine, pure in heart, humble individuals seeking to ease the burdens of others and improve the world could actually accomplish.
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