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Activity [Lesson 3]

Your Perception of U.S. Demographics

Do you have expectations of what various worldview adherents are likely to appear in your classroom?  Here are several of the main categories present in the United States:

Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim,
Nonreligious, Sikh, Taoist

You are probably well aware that, of the categories listed, the predominant worldview category in the nation (by population) is Christian, so it is common for Christian children to be in the majority in most American communities.  This is not always the case, however, because there is so much variation by region and location.   Any U.S. teacher should expect to have as pupils youngsters from any of the various worldview categories.

Can you identify how the remaining worldviews listed above (after Christianity) rank?  Using the "image of U.S. religious diversity in your mind," fill the chart below with your very best guesstimates of the next largest groups (2nd to 5th) and the percentage of adherents.  

CHART 1: Your Image of "U.S. Worldview Heterogeneity"

I'd guess that the top five worldview groups in the United States are (identify in rank order, with a "% of the citizenry" estimate):

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Most common religion     Christianity %

2nd most common       %

3rd most common        %

4th most common        %

5th most common        %

No way of grouping "ultimate beliefs" is clean and neat; nor are broad groupings fully inclusive of the many variants of any major group.  Any major category above will include other categories within it. Christianity, for example, has many variants.  One often-used means of labeling major types of Christianity is based on historical branching (e.g., the split of  "Protestant" and "Catholic" dating back to Martin Luther).  Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox categories derive from an even earlier historical division.  

The grouping method depends on the "perceptions" of whoever is doing the categorization.  How would you subdivide the huge category, Christianity?  What, to you, would seem to be the most useful subgroups today for the dominant religion in our nation?

CHART 2: Your "Image of U. S. Christianity"

Here's how I would subdivide (along with my estimate of the proportion falling into each group):

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One likely subset of Christianity         %

Another likely subset                         %

Another?  (or, perhaps, "Other")          %

End of Activity.  Print this sheet to save your entries.  Return to Guide Sheet.

 

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