CHANGING RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE
(Wednesday) USA Today: Protestantism is no longer (or soon will no longer be -- depending on how you categorize the Mormon church) the dominant religious group in the United States. Protestants of all stripes -- 50%; LDS 2% (and growing); Jews are holding at 2% and Roman Catholics at 25%. The "other" category (which includes Hindus, Muslims, Orthodox Christians, and Buddhists) has grown "from 3% in 1993 to 7% in 2002."

There is some imprecision in the study in that there is a relatively new category which is simply labeled "Christian." This group now makes up 2.3% (most of these, I suspect would have been lumped in with Protestants in previous studies). However, the greatest change is in the number of people who say they "currently have no religion: 14% in 2002, up from 9% in 1992. It's even higher for younger people: Among those born in 1980 or later, 27% said they have no religion."