Our Place In the World of Religion—Session II Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists: Adult Lifespan Faith Development “ Our Place in the World of Religion” (2008)

PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN RELIGION (WORLDWIDE) (by developmental classification of societies) 26% 34% 52% Prayer Practice 20% 34% 64% Religious Values 20% 25% 44% Church Attendance Post-Industrial Industrial Agrarian

CORRELATIONS BETWEEN EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATIONS AND RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION (WORLDWIDE) (--) NEGATIVE Access to Mass Communication (--) NEGATIVE Education ( + ) POSITIVE Adult Illiteracy CORRELATION WITH RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

CORRELATIONS BETWEEN HEALTHCARE AND RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION (WORLDWIDE) (--) NEGATIVE Access to Doctors (--) NEGATIVE Access to Improved Water ( + ) POSITIVE Child Mortality Rates ( + ) POSITIVE Infant Mortality Rates ( + ) POSITIVE AIDS Cases CORRELATION WITH RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION HEALTHCARE

CORRELATIONS BETWEEN DEMOGRAPHICS AND RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION (WORLDWIDE) (--) NEGATIVE % of Population 65 and over ( + ) POSITIVE % of Population 14 and under (--) NEGATIVE Life Expectancy at Birth ( + ) POSITIVE Population Growth CORRELATION WITH RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION DEMOGRAPHICS

CORRELATIONS BETWEEN SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION (WORLDWIDE) ( + ) POSITIVE Rural Population (--) NEGATIVE Urban Population (--) NEGATIVE Per Capita Gross Domestic Product ( + ) POSITIVE Income Inequality (--) NEGATIVE Overall Human Development Index CORRELATION WITH RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

PARTICIPATION TRENDS IN RELIGION OUTSIDE THE U.S. (by % of adult population)

PARTICIPATION TRENDS IN RELIGION IN THE U.S. (by % of adult population)

FUTURE TREND SHOWN IN CORRELATIONS BETWEEN AGE AND RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION (U.S.)

FUTURE TREND SHOWN IN CORRELATIONS BETWEEN AGE AND RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION (U.S.) 65+ Prayer Practice 18-29 65+ Attendance at Worship Services 18-29 65+ Importance of Religious Beliefs 18-29 HIGH PARTICIPATION FACTOR LOW

FUTURE TRENDS SHOWN IN CORRELATIONS BETWEEN AGE AND RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION (WORLDWIDE) 35 29 47 60 + 21 23 47 30-59 15 22 49 < 30 POST INDUSTRIAL INDUSTRIAL AGRARIAN

CORRELATIONS BETWEEN EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATIONS AND RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION (WORLDWIDE) (--) NEGATIVE Access to Mass Communication (--) NEGATIVE Education ( + ) POSITIVE Adult Illiteracy CORRELATION WITH RELIGIOUS PARTICIPATION EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN SELECTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (U.S.) Membership as a % of Those Who Identify with a Religious Tradition Church Activities Outside Worship Prayer/Meditation Practice Attendance at Worship Services Relevance of Religion to Right and Wrong Evangelical Historically Black Churches Mormon Jehovah’s Witnesses Importance of Religious Beliefs Mainline Protestant Jewish Buddhist Unaffiliated HIGH PARTICIPATION FACTOR LOW

PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN SELECTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (U.S.) Evangelist (74%) Unitarian Universalist (35%) Jehovah’s Witnesses (76%) Unaffiliated (22%) Mormon (92%) Buddhist (30%) Historically Black Churches (83%) Membership as a Percentage of those who Identify with a Religious Tradition. Jewish (55%) HIGH PARTICIPATION FACTOR LOW

CORRELATION OF INCOME AND EDUCATION WITH SELECTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (U.S.) Mainline Protestant Jewish Buddhist Unitarian Universalist Unaffiliated (atheist & agnostic only) INCOME EDUCATION Evangelical Historically Black Churches Mormon Jehovah’s Witnesses HIGH LOW

RISE IN THINKING ABOUT “THE MEANING OF LIFE”

PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN SELECTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (U.S.) Membership as a % of Those Who Identify with a Religious Tradition Church Activities Outside Worship Prayer/Meditation Practice Attendance at Worship Services Relevance of Religion to Right and Wrong Evangelical Historically Black Churches Mormon Jehovah’s Witnesses Importance of Religious Beliefs Mainline Protestant Jewish Buddhist Unaffiliated HIGH PARTICIPATION FACTOR LOW

PARTICIPATION LEVELS IN SELECTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (U.S.) Evangelist (74%) Unitarian Universalist (35%) Jehovah’s Witnesses (76%) Unaffiliated (22%) Mormon (92%) Buddhist (30%) Historically Black Churches (83%) Membership as a Percentage of those who Identify with a Religious Tradition Jewish (55%) HIGH PARTICIPATION FACTOR LOW

SPIRITUAL BELIEF IN SELECTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (U.S.) Evangelist (98%) Unaffiliated (60%) Jehovah’s Witnesses (97%) Buddhist (67%) Mormon (98%) Jewish (72%) Historically Black Churches (97%) Belief in God or Universal Spirit Mainline Protestant (94%) HIGH SPIRITUAL BELIEF FACTOR LOW

Sources Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, Sacred and Secular (Cambridge University Press 2004). Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, U.S. Religious Landscape Survey (2007-2008).

Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, Sacred and Secular (Cambridge University Press 2004).

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, U.S. Religious Landscape Survey (2007-2008).

Learn More Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists http://www.wuu.org

Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists

http://www.wuu.org