I came across this article which quotes a new exhaustive study of religions in America, by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious bodies.
By 2010 the number of Muslims in the US was 2.6 million. Note: this figure is much lower than the figure of 6-7 million that is regularly quoted by the Council of American Islamic Relations (eg, here, "... 2% of the [US] population..."). The figures of the US census are even lower 1.4 million in '08, which I extrapolate to 1.6 million now).
There's something wrong with the figures quoted by Snyder.
He says:
"From the year 2000 to 2012 the census found that the number of Muslims living in the United States increased from 1 million to 2.6 million - a stunning increase of 66.7%". [*]
But clearly that's an increase of 160%. On an annual basis it's an increase of 10% compound annual growth rate. (trust me: I have the cagr calculator)
And I think he's comparing two sets of figures that may not be compatible, one from the US government here and one from the Association of Religious Archives (ARDA), here.
Looking at the US government figures, the most comprehensive amongst the reports quoted, the figures for compound growth rates, for periods to 2008, are as follows:
Compound Annual Growth Rates (US Census Data):
Note from this: Atheists growing at the same rate as Muslims (and both have the highest growth rates amongst all major faith systems). Muslim population growth rates appear to have declined a bit from the 90s (7%) to the most recent 3% (01-08). The Jewish population is in decline: I don't know why this should be. Apostasy, maybe? There are fewer Jews than Muslims in the United States either now (ARDA), or in about 10 years (US Census). Christians are growing a touch above the annual population growth rate of (0.9%, 2012 est), ie, not below, as in the ARDA stats.
None of this will give the believers of non-Islamic faiths much comfort as they will see the split of society into godless secularists and Muslims. It's for that reason that the Left (which atheists will most often be) needs to be brought on board to critique the most egregious aspects of Islam. I wrote about in the post just before this one, below.
[*] LATER: I figured it out. If he'd written "...increased "BY...", instead of increased FROM, then it makes sense. According to the ARDA figures, Muslim numbers increased by 1,040,788, to 2,600,082 between 2000 and 2010. There's your 67% growth, overall. And on a CAGR basis it's 5% per year, consistent with the figures from the US census.
By 2010 the number of Muslims in the US was 2.6 million. Note: this figure is much lower than the figure of 6-7 million that is regularly quoted by the Council of American Islamic Relations (eg, here, "... 2% of the [US] population..."). The figures of the US census are even lower 1.4 million in '08, which I extrapolate to 1.6 million now).
There's something wrong with the figures quoted by Snyder.
He says:
"From the year 2000 to 2012 the census found that the number of Muslims living in the United States increased from 1 million to 2.6 million - a stunning increase of 66.7%". [*]
But clearly that's an increase of 160%. On an annual basis it's an increase of 10% compound annual growth rate. (trust me: I have the cagr calculator)
And I think he's comparing two sets of figures that may not be compatible, one from the US government here and one from the Association of Religious Archives (ARDA), here.
Looking at the US government figures, the most comprehensive amongst the reports quoted, the figures for compound growth rates, for periods to 2008, are as follows:
Compound Annual Growth Rates (US Census Data):
| 1990-2001 | 2001-2008 | 1990-2008 | |
| Christian | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Muslim | 7% | 3% | 5% |
| Jewish | -1% | -1% | -1% |
| Atheist | 7% | 2% | 5% |
Note from this: Atheists growing at the same rate as Muslims (and both have the highest growth rates amongst all major faith systems). Muslim population growth rates appear to have declined a bit from the 90s (7%) to the most recent 3% (01-08). The Jewish population is in decline: I don't know why this should be. Apostasy, maybe? There are fewer Jews than Muslims in the United States either now (ARDA), or in about 10 years (US Census). Christians are growing a touch above the annual population growth rate of (0.9%, 2012 est), ie, not below, as in the ARDA stats.
None of this will give the believers of non-Islamic faiths much comfort as they will see the split of society into godless secularists and Muslims. It's for that reason that the Left (which atheists will most often be) needs to be brought on board to critique the most egregious aspects of Islam. I wrote about in the post just before this one, below.
[*] LATER: I figured it out. If he'd written "...increased "BY...", instead of increased FROM, then it makes sense. According to the ARDA figures, Muslim numbers increased by 1,040,788, to 2,600,082 between 2000 and 2010. There's your 67% growth, overall. And on a CAGR basis it's 5% per year, consistent with the figures from the US census.
