Whats With The Vast Differences In United States Religion Statistics?

Question

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States

says we are 81% christian, and 15% athiest/agnostic

http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html#religions

says we are 76.5% christian and 1% atheist/agnostic

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html#People

says we're 76% chrstian, and 10% atheist...

does anyone really know? has anyone done an unbiased, self reporting, private answer study?

Answer 1

The problem is that you can vary how you ask the question a lot and what you define as an atheist or Christian.

The truth is probably somewhere around 75-80% Christian and 10% atheist judging by the the numbers I've seen. But no, there aren't really good numbers at all. It is hard to even get a handle on trends.

Added: Wow... that CIA number really did change. I thought you had the last two backwards because the CIA number was always one of the lowest for atheists. According to them we have had about a 500% growth rate in 7 years because their '95 number was right around 2%

Answer 2

It is impossible to really know. A lot of atheists are "in the closet", and many people just say they are Christians just because it is what is expected of them.
But it can be fairly stated that most people in the US (if they had to identify themselves with any religion) are "Christian", and the Atheist/Agnostic section of the country is a small minority, but probably a growing one.

Answer 3

A truly unbiased survey? That itself would be hard to find plus, I know there are thousands who say Christian but only b/c they haven't put any thought into it and just don't know what else to say.

Answer 4

A lot of times those differences have to do with how the question is asked.

Answer 5

85% BElieve but they all dont have a certain church...ive read this in the paper.