Changes

==How many Christians are there really in the world?==

==How many Christians are there really in the world?==

Adherents.com places the number of Christians in the world at 2.1 billion people, or 33% of the world’s population of just under 7 billion people.<ref> http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html</ref> They also give an estimate of 76% of America’s population as Christian out of our population of 312 million people which gives us 237 million.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html#religions</ref><ref>http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html</ref>

Adherents.com places the number of Christians in the world at 2.1 billion people, or 33% of the world’s population of just under 7 billion people.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html</ref> They also give an estimate of 76% of America’s population as Christian out of our population of 312 million people which gives us 237 million.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html#religions</ref><ref>http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html</ref>

But can that be accurate? Doubtful.

But can that be accurate? Doubtful.

For the sake of argument let’s assume that’s correct. Let us assume that we do not have a religious identity until we are 4. That gives us three age cohorts that must be taken out of the equation entirely.

For the sake of argument let’s assume that’s correct. Let us assume that we do not have a religious identity until we are 4. That gives us three age cohorts that must be taken out of the equation entirely.

In 2010 there were ~4 million births in the US. That was a decrease of 3% from the 2009 levels but we’ll use it.<ref>http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/11/us-birth-rates</ref> That means that at any given time there are ~12 million children ages 0-3 who have no religious affiliation. ~3/4 of those, around 9 million, are “Christian.

In 2010 there were ~4 million births in the US. That was a decrease of 3% from the 2009 levels but we’ll use it.<ref>http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/11/us-birth-rates</ref> That means that at any given time there are ~12 million children ages 0–3 who have no religious affiliation. ~3/4 of those, around 9 million, are “Christian.

And what about in the world at large? The world-wide birth rate for 2010 was 19.5 births for every 1,000 people.<ref>http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=xx&v=25</ref> Doing the math that gives us ~136.5 million people were born in 2010 around the world. Once again, calculating for children ages 0-3 we get ~409 million children around the world without a religious affiliation. ~135 million of which are “Christian.”

And what about in the world at large? The world-wide birth rate for 2010 was 19.5 births for every 1,000 people.<ref>http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=xx&v=25</ref> Doing the math that gives us ~136.5 million people were born in 2010 around the world. Once again, calculating for children ages 0-3 we get ~409 million children around the world without a religious affiliation. ~135 million of which are “Christian.”

We now move on to the second oversight ignored by many. This concept is often brought up in Conservapedia, and in other places, but the true consequences of such belief are rarely, if ever, thought about. What makes someone a Christian? The page [[Liberal]] doubts the idea that many American liberals are Christians. In fact, the page says that “some may be Christians” thus rejecting the idea that even a majority of liberals are Christian. How does that cut down the number of Christians in the US?

We now move on to the second oversight ignored by many. This concept is often brought up in Conservapedia, and in other places, but the true consequences of such belief are rarely, if ever, thought about. What makes someone a Christian? The page [[Liberal]] doubts the idea that many American liberals are Christians. In fact, the page says that “some may be Christians” thus rejecting the idea that even a majority of liberals are Christian. How does that cut down the number of Christians in the US?

There’s also the reality that many people who consider themselves Christian are really secular. Such is the case for many Christians in America, Australia, Europe, and Russia. Europe and Australia are particularly known for their open secularity with only 52% of people in European Union countries professing a belief in a god.<ref> http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf</ref> Oddly enough it is surprisingly difficult to find an accurate percentage of Europeans who consider themselves Christian but realistically speaking, even if it were 76% as in the US a lack of belief in God would preclude a majority of those from being counted among them. The statistics on this, partially being unknown, are impossible to calculate. Needless to say a very large chunk of “Christians” have been dropped from the totals.

There’s also the reality that many people who consider themselves Christian are really secular. Such is the case for many Christians in America, Australia, Europe, and Russia. Europe and Australia are particularly known for their open secularity with only 52% of people in European Union countries professing a belief in a god.<ref>http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf</ref> Oddly enough it is surprisingly difficult to find an accurate percentage of Europeans who consider themselves Christian but realistically speaking, even if it were 76% as in the US a lack of belief in God would preclude a majority of those from being counted among them. The statistics on this, partially being unknown, are impossible to calculate. Needless to say a very large chunk of “Christians” have been dropped from the totals.

There’s also the issue of political views and religion. There are those who believe that certain beliefs or actions say that one is not a true Christian. Such examples are the widespread belief that [[Anders Breivik]] is not Christian, though he considered himself one, based on his actions. Other examples would be [[Timothy McVeigh]], the Oklahoma City Bomber and [[Adolf Hitler]] who, according to many accounts, was a practicing Catholic.

There’s also the issue of political views and religion. There are those who believe that certain beliefs or actions say that one is not a true Christian. Such examples are the widespread belief that [[Anders Breivik]] is not Christian, though he considered himself one, based on his actions. Other examples would be [[Timothy McVeigh]], the Oklahoma City Bomber and [[Adolf Hitler]] who, according to many accounts, was a practicing Catholic.