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Difference between revisions of "Question: In Utah, are more people leaving the Church than are joining the Church?"
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==Question: In Utah, are more people leaving the Church than are joining the Church?== | ==Question: In Utah, are more people leaving the Church than are joining the Church?== | ||
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*Deseret News ''Church Almanac,'' 2005. | *Deseret News ''Church Almanac,'' 2005. | ||
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*http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_lds.html | *http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_lds.html | ||
*http://www.ams.usda.gov/statesummaries/UT/MSA/MSA.pdf/Utah.pdf | *http://www.ams.usda.gov/statesummaries/UT/MSA/MSA.pdf/Utah.pdf | ||
| + | *http://backgroundchecks.org/us-census-guide-how-to-get-the-most-out-of-census-gov.html | ||
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Latest revision as of 21:58, 1 May 2024
FAIR Answers—back to home page
Question: In Utah, are more people leaving the Church than are joining the Church?
Such claims are incorrect, according to figures from the U.S. Census and the LDS Church Almanac
It is claimed that "Within the state of Utah, the number of Mormons has steadily declined over the past 10 years," and that more people are leaving the Church than are joining the Church. This belief led the producers of the anti-Mormon video Search for the Truth to claim that "within Utah, we are doing a fairly good job of combating Mormonism" and therefore "the Mormon Church is vulnerable" to anti-Mormon criticisms.
But such authors are simply incorrect, according to figures from the U.S. Census and the LDS Church Almanac:
| Utah: Total | Utah: LDS | Utah: Non-LDS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31-Dec-1990 | 1,722,850 | 1,236,242 | 486,608 |
| 31-Dec-2005 | 2,469,585 | 1,752,467 | 717,118 |
| 15-year growth | 43.34% | 41.76% | 47.37% |
| annualized growth | 2.89% | 2.78% | 3.16% |
As the table shows, the LDS population in Utah is growing—it is just growing at a slower rate than the non-LDS population. The primary reason for this is the high non-LDS immigration into Utah over the last two decades.
According to a recent article in the Salt Lake Tribute:
Utah's ongoing religious diversification has little to do with the LDS Church or its teachings, but rather is a reflection of the economy.... When economic growth goes up, minority population goes up, and this is kind of a code word for non-Mormons.... While continuing to grow in actual members, the LDS share of the state population showed a slow but constant decline every year from 1989 to 2004.[1]
Data Sources
- Deseret News Church Almanac, 2005.
- https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/
- http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_lds.html
- http://www.ams.usda.gov/statesummaries/UT/MSA/MSA.pdf/Utah.pdf
- http://backgroundchecks.org/us-census-guide-how-to-get-the-most-out-of-census-gov.html
Critical sources |
|
Notes