Diversity rising: Census shows Mormons, nondenominational churches, Muslims spreading out across U.S.

The U.S. religious landscape is shifting, and no one may be more thankful than GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney. The 2010 U.S. Religion Census, now available on the Association of Religion Data Archives, found that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gained the most regular members in the last 10 years. But the denomination is not the only one spreading its wings nationally in a time of increasing religious diversity
Taken together, nondenominational and independent churches may now be considered the third largest religious group in the country.

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Facebook Faith Works for Tim Tebow; But Is It for Everyone?

The average social media user may face some challenging questions in deciding how much of their personal faith to disclose online. Will sharing my religious life make me more or less likely to get a date? Make new friends? Expand professional networks? New research indicates that merely disclosing one’s religious identity is considered socially acceptable. But the costs and the benefits can rise the more online users share about their religious lives.

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Knowing where they stand: Belief in resurrection central to religious identity across Christian landscape

Give people in the pews some credit. Every so often, a story pops up making light of religious illiteracy because a significant percentage of the population cannot identify facts such as the names of the four books of the Gospel. More often, researchers and media pundits attempt to classify different believers by how they vote or their stands on controversial social issues. Yet, American Christians can and do articulate for themselves what matters most. As Christians prepare to celebrate Easter, it seems clear that the belief that Jesus rose from the dead is overwhelmingly at the center of their faith.

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David Briggs, a former national writer for The Associated Press who holds a master's degree from Yale Divinity School, is consistently honored among the Top 10 secular religion writers and reporters in North America.

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