Oh, and if you have a learning disability here’s a version you might understand.

The.omitted./.replaced.protestants.with.evangelicals.Are.they.not.the.same.thing?Its.my.understanding.that.all.Protestants.are.essentially.the.same.

The TERMS used when talking about multiple faiths of the same sort is pagan or neopagan, and many see them as synonyms. They are used interchangeably, and one is not “more correct” than the other. As for Wiccan, that is only a single branch of neo/paganism. You can be both a neo/pagan and a druid, but you cannot interchange Wiccan with Druid, as they are two different things.

“The neopagans are still very small and very niche, considering that all of the beliefs were founded in the 60s and on Occult/D&D mythologies…”

I’msorryexcusemesayWHAT?

AD&D was created in 1974.

The first highly public modern branch of Wicca came about in the 1940s. I know Wiccans are supposed to be magical and all, but that’s a pretty powerful spell to let them see 30-35 years into the future and gank their beliefs from a pencil game. And that is the first OFFICIAL and OPEN branch of Wicca; there is evidence it or something like it was practiced covertly for much longer. Maybe not “back to the middle ages” longer, but certainly it wasn’t a new thing.

“…mostly because all religious practices of the Druids were never written down and traditions ending over a millennia ago.”

Druids are not the same as Wicca. And, in fact, the new Druidic movement has been around since the 1700s. They’re magic must kick Wiccan ass, considering they could peer forward TWO CENTURIES to rip their beliefs out of a role playing manual. Or, you know, the role playing manual could have pulled from existing Druidic beliefs.

Nah, couldn’t be that. Too logical and FAR too easily fact checked.

As for religious practices never being written down…no they weren’t. Neither were many early Christian practices, among others. But records WERE left, in travel tales, in legal records, in stories, in traditional practices, in pictures, and in song. Heck, even the bible has a Druidic ritual in it, co-opted for their own religion (and there are some fascinating theories that Jesus may have traveled to Celtic lands based on that and other such evidence).

“It also should be noted that being the 8th religion isn’t that remarkable…”

Try reading my post again. I said it was ONE OF THE eight largest faith groups in the US. I did NOT say it was in eighth place.

“There are still only 50K of neopagans or a small town in America.”

Try again. Last count (in 2008) listed 342,000 people self-identifying as Wiccans–and keep in mind, this number doesn’t count anyone else who’d call themselves pagan or neopagan of a different branch. This is also only adults counted–it doesn’t include the children of family groups.

And Wiccan is one of the fastest growing religions in the states (along with Islam and in part of the US, Mormonism). Many still also remain “in the closet,” so most people who try to estimate the full population of Wiccans admit the numbers may be significantly higher. In the world the numbers are well over 800,000 officially, again, not counting children or those who refuse to self-identify.

“On an international scale, it is still ranked 19th out of 22.”

In the world there are an estimated 4,200 religions. 22 are considered large enough to make an official list, and Wicca is on that list, no matter how low. Which means it beat out 4,181 other religions not only to MAKE that list, but to not be at the very bottom. That is NOT an inconsiderable feat, especially considering how new neopaganism is.

“As for Sikhs, they are usually “ignored” because they only have about 250K in America. That is 0.08% of the population. Though being 4 times the size of neopagans in America is some feat.”

I checked these numbers. There are 78,000 self identified Sihks in America in 2008, and an estimated 250,000 when you take into account estimates based in other data. Even the Sikh Coalition, an advocacy group for that religion, puts the estimates at around 500,000, though they offer no sources for how they came to that figure.

Conversely, there were 342,000 self identified Wiccans in the US is 2008, and as many as 750,000 when you take into account estimates based in other data. Again, since many Wiccans don’t reveal their faith, this is likely a conservative estimate.

So even if the 500,000 figure was true, it still falls short of the estimated Wiccan population by 250,000.

Wicca may not be the largest group in the US, but it is definitely a scrappy little contender. To really put it in perspective, in 2008 there were 991,000 Agnostics, 902,000 Atheists, 766,000 Hindus, and
620,000 Unitarian Universalists. So the estimated amount of Wiccans not only outdid one (and likely several) branch of the Christian faith, but is neck-in-neck with Hindus and not all that far behind Atheists and Agnostics. At least three of these DID make the above chart.

America is a tapestry of beliefs, and i know every branch and subbranch can’t be included, not without a computer system and a lot of time, at least. But I still feel that if you’re going to properly poll on issues like this, you should acknowledge more than the most popular Christian faiths and a couple non Christian ones you maybe learned about in high school. Islamic, for example, should have definitely been there (1.1 million and growing). And yes, I still feel Pagan should have been, too.

America is more than subbranches of Christianity, and if you really want to find out how Americans feel about Athiests, that needs acknowledged.

It also should be noted that being the 8th religion isn’t that remarkable considering we tend to group sects into one category. There are still only 50K of neopagans or a small town in America. On an international scale, it is still ranked 19th out of 22.

The reasons why these groups are clumped/broken down is because of their population size. The big one, Protestants and Catholics, are usually broken down because they’re about split even in size. Catholics are unified in size, where there are far too many sects to even bother counting. And if these sects weren’t broken down, you’d see your neopagan religions fall into even further obscurity, probably hitting the triple digits considering the number of Protestant sects that sprout up every day.

As for Sikhs, they are usually “ignored” because they only have about 250K in America. That is 0.08% of the population. Though being 4 times the size of neopagans in America is some feat. Good job Sikhs!

Sikhism is another that is often not included, and I notice they also asked no opinions of the many Islamics who hang out here either. I get that you can’t include everybody, but I find it interesting that they shunned a good number of religious paths that are very common in the US while breaking others down into sub-groups. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to who they chose to include in this other than “these are the groups I’m most familiar with because they either popped up in the news or I learned about them in school.”

Pagan just means non-Abrahamic religion.

Again, I feel like I’m not understanding your views…

The hostility toward atheists is a more curious one, as it can’t really be pinned to any of those things. Atheists can’t be racially or ethnically othered, there’s no widespread behavioral phobia associated with them, and it’s pretty well-known what their beliefs (or, rather, lack thereof) are.