Dr. Zahid Bukhari, Project Director the American Muslims Studies Program at the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, argues that in the absence of any census data on religious affiliation, the estimate of religious communities' population is always a problematic venture.
"One can find various estimates of the evangelical Christian, Catholic and Jewish population that are available in the survey literature. What are the numbers of evangelical Christians in the population? A recent Baylor University study put the percentage at 33.6 percent, roughly 100 million people. At the same time, a study by the Bliss Institute of University of Akron put the percentage at 26.3 percent, roughly 79 million people "" a difference of almost 21 million followers. The same is the case with the Catholic population. The range of the estimates is between 22 percent and 26 percent, a difference of about 12 million people. The Latino population has surpassed the African-American population in the United States. How many of them are Catholics or Evangelical is again a matter of speculation and religious aspirations. The controversy about the extent of declining Jewish population in the USA has not been settled yet."-
Dr. Bukhari suggests that instead of criticizing scholars and studies in the pages of Jerusalem Post for their "brazen manipulation"- and "exaggeration"- by quoting different estimates of the Muslim population in America, the American Jewish Committee, along with other national religious groups, should support a call to the Bureau of Census to include a question on religious affiliation in the coming census of 2010. The census question will at least present a real picture of the religious landscape of the United States. The religion question is being asked in Canada, England, Australia and other industrial countries who also maintain the separation of church and state.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
