New survey: as Evangelicalism grows, America is becoming less Christian

My friend Cristina sent me a link to this article on CNN.com, which breaks down and discusses the results of the American Religious Identity Survey, which was conducted by Trinity College in Hartford, CT and published today.  [Update: USA Today has excellent charts accompanying its story about the survey.]

Three in four Americans call themselves Christian, but in 1990 that figure was almost nine out of 10 (86%).  One-third of Americans identify as Evangelical, with the number of people associated with mega-churches skyrocketing from 200,000 in 1990 to 8 million today — however, the number of “mainline” Protestants (Lutheran, Methodist, etc.) is shrinking.  One in five people said they have no religious identity or did not answer the question, and 25% of people do not expect to have a religious funeral, according to the survey. CNN quotes Mark Silk of Trinity College (they don’t specify whether he’s a professor), who attributes the growing number of nonreligious Americans to several factors.