if you look at recent trends in the united states, the most christian nation in the world, religion is on the wane. according to a recent report from the pew research center, self-described christians dropped from 78.4% of the population to 70.6% of the population. a nearly eight-point drop in just seven years. the religiously unaffiliated, like atheists and agnostics, increased from 16.1% to 22.8% over that time. what s more, the decline in christians is happening across the board among the young and the old. blacks, whites, and latinos and people with different levels of education. even geography isn t a difference maker. the southern bible belt has seen a decline that s just as big as other regions of the country. pew has another impressive report that looks at religion around the world, revealing some fascinating predictions. by 2050, christians in several
themselves as christian fell about eight points from 78.4% to 70.6%. joining me now, senior pastor of the first baptist church in dallas texas dr. robert jeffress. what do you make of that decline? well i think the decline is real and megyn, it s having an effect not just on christians but all of america, as well. and here s why. for the first 200 years of our country, there was a basic judeo christian foundation to our nation and not everyone agreed with it but everybody benefitted to it. providing a common understanding of what s right and wrong. it gave a compelling reason to do what is right, but then about 50 years ago we tried a secular experiment that said let s try to be good without god, without religion and i suggest that s been a dismal failure. you know somebody said socialism works until you run out of other people s money. secularism works until you run
ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. to get the real answers you need. start building your confident retirement today. welcome back. we turn now to a pew poll out earlier this week showing the number of christians in america is falling. over the last seven years the number of people who describe themselves as christian fell about eight points from 78.4% to 70.6%. joining me now, senior pastor of the first baptist church in dallas texas dr. robert jeffress. what do you make of that decline? well i think the decline is real and megyn, it s having an effect not just on christians but all of america, as well. and here s why. for the first 200 years of our country, there was a basic judeo
the beauty of being a christian or having faith, because no one can get between you and, you know, the heavenly father. but pew the pew research center said 78.4% of americans are christians. if that s the case, that s the majority. it always gets me that, like, one person protests, you know? take a vote if they want to do that. i don t think one person should change it for the 78%. stifling the free speech, stifling your religion, your faith. it is, it s unsettling to think about that. i moon, and why do people i mean, why to people have to be so selfish? live and let live. no, i mean, i actually became a christian later in life, so for much of my life i was an atheist or agnostic. i never was bothered by people praying. it s just interesting to me, it s so strange that it would bother me. it s a cultural thing. it s something we do in our country, and this wasn t an exclusively christian prayer, it doesn t sound like. so i think that the idea that a person or, i guess, they ask
complaints declined and apparently the industry s on-time rate was 78.4% which is down from 81.8% from 2012. american eagle was the worst performer in that category. hawaiian airlines had the best showing at 93% in both 2012 and 20 2013. always, you know, sunny weather might help, i don t know, might have something to do with it, and the industry s largest improvement last year came in the area of denied boardings where eight carriers got better from 2012. so as i say, it is a mixed bag, excuse the pun. and some people feel that complaining does not do anything. and that is part of it, you complain and it goes to the ether maybe. than ing you, msnbc s mandy drury. and there is a startling look at obesity from a gallop survey. the adult obesity rates are above the targeted goal, above 15% in all but one city,