Disturbing stats on religious affiliations of inmates

[Hlyghst1]

I recently came upon a disturbing article on the Federal Bureau of Prisons stats on religious affiliations of inmates in the United States. Apparently Catholics make up 39%, Protestants 35% and atheists only .2%. Christians are not categorized - not sure how they are lumped in. How is that possible/what is the reason for this? What do these statistics mean? I would have guessed that atheists would have made up an overwhelming percentage of those in jail. What is going on here?

 

[maxwel]

Maybe it's because when atheists go to jail they finally repent, and become Christians.

 

[Nautilus]

Christians are broken into groups of catholic and protestant. Not even sure how you didn't realize this.

 

[crossnote]

I recently came upon a disturbing article on the Federal Bureau of Prisons stats on religious affiliations of inmates in the United States. Apparently Catholics make up 39%, Protestants 35% and atheists only .2%. Christians are not categorized - not sure how they are lumped in. How is that possible/what is the reason for this? What do these statistics mean? I would have guessed that atheists would have made up an overwhelming percentage of those in jail. What is going on here?

perhaps its a truer indicator of the actual % of atheists in the general population

 

[dcontroversal]

Well to be quite frank.....the two highest stats that you quote does not indicate biblical salvation.............!

 

[Ugly]

I recently came upon a disturbing article on the Federal Bureau of Prisons stats on religious affiliations of inmates in the United States. Apparently Catholics make up 39%, Protestants 35% and atheists only .2%. Christians are not categorized - not sure how they are lumped in. How is that possible/what is the reason for this? What do these statistics mean? I would have guessed that atheists would have made up an overwhelming percentage of those in jail. What is going on here?

Many inmates claim religion in prison because they think it makes them look better. So there is a good size portion there.
And making a claim to a religious organization is not the same as following the tennents. The world is full of people who claim to believe in God yet it doesn't reflect in their life.
Likely many of those not doing it for show are just claiming a familial religious affiliation rather than a personal one.

My father spent over 15 years in various prisons as a guard. The vast majority will fall under just claiming it for outward appearances not as a true belief.

 

[yaright]

I recently came upon a disturbing article on the Federal Bureau of Prisons stats on religious affiliations of inmates in the United States. Apparently Catholics make up 39%, Protestants 35% and atheists only .2%. Christians are not categorized - not sure how they are lumped in. How is that possible/what is the reason for this? What do these statistics mean? I would have guessed that atheists would have made up an overwhelming percentage of those in jail. What is going on here?

Who are they that Jesus walks among? Alarming, yes?

 

[yaright]

Many inmates claim religion in prison because they think it makes them look better. So there is a good size portion there.
And making a claim to a religious organization is not the same as following the tennents. The world is full of people who claim to believe in God yet it doesn't reflect in their life.
Likely many of those not doing it for show are just claiming a familial religious affiliation rather than a personal one.

My father spent over 15 years in various prisons as a guard. The vast majority will fall under just claiming it for outward appearances not as a true belief.

Interesting that the parallel need of Churches and prisons are so much alike. Is Paul actually within his rights to say anyone who believes he is something, is nothing at all? If churches call out to sinners to repent of their sinful lives, how much greater the need do you suppose for those who are sinners?

 

[yaright]

Many inmates claim religion in prison because they think it makes them look better. So there is a good size portion there.
And making a claim to a religious organization is not the same as following the tennents. The world is full of people who claim to believe in God yet it doesn't reflect in their life.
Likely many of those not doing it for show are just claiming a familial religious affiliation rather than a personal one.

My father spent over 15 years in various prisons as a guard. The vast majority will fall under just claiming it for outward appearances not as a true belief.

I like the idea of your comparisons between the church and prisons. On one hand you say the whole world is likely putting on a show to look better than others. But evidently your church does not have those who hide their ugly sins for fear of losing their good standing. You have raised your dad on high as a man who judged the hearts and minds of men. I have been to both and today find you deceive yourself and attempt to deceive others in this manner; While being taught by the Spirit, it was on my heart to point outwardly at the world like most religions do, and say, "See what evil there is, surely the end times are here!" Immediately the words; Hypocrite! Where have you just now come from and repented, to turn around and talk about the hearts and minds of men?" I was then taught the meaning of end times which is nothing at all like men reason among themselves. It is about what is taking place within a person, that every stone is cast down and that world begins to change under the Rule of our Lord and King, Jesus Christ. The world within is what needs to come to an end. You would do yourself a greater service to go out into the world and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, like Jesus instructed. If God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, that who so ever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life; than who are you to judge and turn away from them Jonah?

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

... Catholics make up 39%, Protestants 35% and atheists only .2%. Christians are not categorized ...

So it's your contention Catholics and Protestants aren't Christians?

And by the way, what you should truly be concerned about is the number of prison inmates who are becoming radical Islamists while locked up in U.S. prisons.

 

[Hlyghst1]

Christians are broken into groups of catholic and protestant. Not even sure how you didn't realize this.

Sorry, meant to say Baptist* because they're not on the list. They're neither Catholic nor protestant

 

[Nautilus]

Sorry, meant to say Baptist* because they're not on the list. They're neither Catholic nor protestant

Nope wrong again. Baptists are protestant. Surprise! They may be on the evangelical end of the mainline-evangelical protestant spectrum but they are there.

 

[Hlyghst1]

Nope wrong again. Baptists are protestant. Surprise! They may be on the evangelical end of the mainline-evangelical protestant spectrum but they are there.

Why Baptists are NOT Protestants!

 

[AgeofKnowledge]

I have to agree. Baptist churches are widely considered to be Protestant churches and most Baptists themselves consider themselves so despite some Baptists disavowing this identity. Historians do include Baptists in the domain of Protestantism. As historian John Buescher explains:

"At least some Baptists do not consider themselves "Protestants." This is to emphasize their sense that, insofar as the Protestant Reformation was as a contest between the Roman Catholic Church and reformers who sought to protest certain features of the Catholic Church and to reestablish the Church on what they considered was a purer basis, the Baptists have not entered into that contest. They have rejected the notion of a "universal Church" altogether, admitting the authority of only local organizations, individual communities of believers, and, ultimately, each individual before God. As a result, they have found themselves at odds with the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and mainline denominational Protestantism.

The entire Reformation, however, trended in this direction—away from recognizing a central authority and toward recognizing "private judgment" as the touchstone of authority. In this light, therefore, Baptists are heirs of the Protestant Reformation, and their reluctance to group themselves with other Protestants is a radical form of the spiritual individualism that characterized the Reformation as a whole."

Read more: Baptist Origins | Teachinghistory.org

Nope wrong again. Baptists are protestant. Surprise! They may be on the evangelical end of the mainline-evangelical protestant spectrum but they are there.

 

[Nautilus]

Why Baptists are NOT Protestants!

I mean whatever helps you sleep at night, but there is a difference in your dreams and reality. Baptists are totally part of the protestant movement. Just as much as Methodist, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, and others were all born out of the same movement. Non-protestants are called catholics. So unless the baptist church is Catholic, I really don't think you have a leg to stand on.

 

[SarahM777]

I recently came upon a disturbing article on the Federal Bureau of Prisons stats on religious affiliations of inmates in the United States. Apparently Catholics make up 39%, Protestants 35% and atheists only .2%. Christians are not categorized - not sure how they are lumped in. How is that possible/what is the reason for this? What do these statistics mean? I would have guessed that atheists would have made up an overwhelming percentage of those in jail. What is going on here?

Well it would help if you actually post the STATS

The Federal Bureau of Prisons does have statistics on religious
affiliations of inmates. The following are total number of
inmates per religion category:

Response Number %
---------------------------- --------
Catholic 29267 39.164%
Protestant 26162 35.008%
Muslim 5435 7.273%
American Indian 2408 3.222%
Nation 1734 2.320%
Rasta 1485 1.987%
Jewish 1325 1.773%
Church of Christ 1303 1.744%
Pentecostal 1093 1.463%
Moorish 1066 1.426%
Buddhist 882 1.180%
Jehovah Witness 665 0.890%
Adventist 621 0.831%
Orthodox 375 0.502%
Mormon 298 0.399%
Scientology 190 0.254%
Atheist 156 0.209%
Hindu 119 0.159%
Santeria 117 0.157%
Sikh 14 0.019%
Bahai 9 0.012%
Krishna 7 0.009%
---------------------------- --------
Total Known Responses 74731 100.001% (rounding to 3 digits does this)

Unknown/No Answer 18381
----------------------------
Total Convicted 93112 80.259% (74731) prisoners' religion is known.

Held in Custody 3856 (not surveyed due to temporary custody)
----------------------------
Total In Prisons 96968


I hope that this information is helpful to you.

Sincerely,

Denise Golumbaski
Research Analyst
Federal Bureau of Prisons


http://www.holysmoke.org/icr-pri.htm

First not all that are in prison are Christian. You left out the non-Christian stats. And most of those who say they are Christian are mostly split between Catholic and Protestants.

 

[notuptome]

Why would one find the number of RCC in prison surprising? Do we not know that organized crime has long cloaked itself with Romanism? Everything else "Christian" falls into protestant. The scary statistic is the number of young black men converting to Islam while in prison. It fits the gang mentality so well and is just as dangerous.

For the cause of Christ
Roger

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

Sorry, meant to say Baptist* because they're not on the list. They're neither Catholic nor protestant

Baptist, rightly or wrongly, are lumped into the Protestant mix for the purposes of surveys conducted by secularists who don't understand the long history of the church and its roots. So don't worry about it, and like I said, be more concerned about the number of prison inmates who are becoming radical Islamists while locked up in U.S. prisons.

 

[Ugly]

I like the idea of your comparisons between the church and prisons. On one hand you say the whole world is likely putting on a show to look better than others. But evidently your church does not have those who hide their ugly sins for fear of losing their good standing. You have raised your dad on high as a man who judged the hearts and minds of men. I have been to both and today find you deceive yourself and attempt to deceive others in this manner; While being taught by the Spirit, it was on my heart to point outwardly at the world like most religions do, and say, "See what evil there is, surely the end times are here!" Immediately the words; Hypocrite! Where have you just now come from and repented, to turn around and talk about the hearts and minds of men?" I was then taught the meaning of end times which is nothing at all like men reason among themselves. It is about what is taking place within a person, that every stone is cast down and that world begins to change under the Rule of our Lord and King, Jesus Christ. The world within is what needs to come to an end. You would do yourself a greater service to go out into the world and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, like Jesus instructed. If God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, that who so ever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life; than who are you to judge and turn away from them Jonah?

I would bother disagreeing with you, but it's clear by parts of your post you are clueless. So i won't waste my time.

 

[Hlyghst1]

Baptist, rightly or wrongly, are lumped into the Protestant mix for the purposes of surveys conducted by secularists who don't understand the long history of the church and its roots. So don't worry about it, and like I said, be more concerned about the number of prison inmates who are becoming radical Islamists while locked up in U.S. prisons.

Why are prisons producing so many radical Islamists?