In a message dated 12/3/01 5:30:29 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

<< > Minor quibble - despite the best efforts of the current US President,
> the United States is not a Christian country.

What is currently the largest religious group in the US? >>

According to CIA Factbook, (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/) as 
of 1989: 
Protestant 56%, 
Roman Catholic 28%, 
Jewish 2%, 
other 4%, 
none 10% 

As you know, the US neither endorses nor opposes any religious belief.  
That's a part of our Constitution (and is mentioned on the list every few 
months).  The US has been defined as having Judeo-Christian values, since a 
large majority of our population is either Jewish or Christian, but IMHO, we 
don't really think of ourselves as a Christian or Jewish country.  

I think this is an important distinction and one that may be difficult to 
comprehend if you don't live here.  We don't think of ourselves as a 
Christian country despite the fact that Christians are in the majority.  To 
Americans, a "Christian" country would be a theocracy, or one in which 
churches have a lot of political influence and other religions have little or 
no influence on gov't laws and policy.  Ireland would be a good example of a 
country an American would think of as "Christian" or "Catholic" for this 
reason.  

Jon



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