Imagine the whole country shrunk down to one street with 100 houses. One grown-up per house. Everyone gets a mailbox and an opinion about the speed bumps.
Pew Research Center did something close to this. Its 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study surveyed nearly 37,000 American adults. Here is roughly who lives on the street.
- 62 houses are Christian. About 23 evangelical Protestants, 19 Catholics, 11 mainline Protestants, 5 in historically Black Protestant churches, 2 Latter-day Saints and 2 other Christians.
- 29 houses have no religion. A few are atheist, a few are agnostic, and most say “nothing in particular.”
- 2 houses are Jewish.
- 1 house is Muslim. 1 is Buddhist. 1 is Hindu.
- About 2 more belong to other faiths, such as Sikhs and Baha’is.
The numbers are rounded, so they don’t add up to exactly 100. Real streets are messy too.
Two things stand out. Most of the street is Christian. And a big slice of it is no religion at all. Meanwhile, some of the neighbors we hear the most about live in one or two houses. A single house can take up a lot of airtime.
Why bother knowing the neighbors
In 2019, Pew quizzed Americans about religion. People who personally knew someone of a faith tended to know more about it. Among people who knew a Muslim, 76% knew that Ramadan is the Islamic holy month. Among people who didn’t, 46% did.
So it turns out you learn about people by knowing people. Somebody should tell the internet.
Jesus once got a question from a lawyer who wanted to win an argument. The lawyer “asked Jesus, ‘Who is my neighbor?’” (Luke 10:29, WEB). Jesus answered with a story about a man from the wrong group who stopped to help a stranger. Then he asked who had acted like a neighbor. The lawyer answered, “He who showed mercy on him” (Luke 10:37, WEB).
The question started as “Who counts?” It ended as “Who helped?” That’s a better question. It’s also harder.
How to use this guide
Each chapter visits one house on the street. Read them in order, or skip to the one next door to you.
Each chapter tries to describe a community the way its own members would recognize. Where practice varies, and it nearly always does, we say “many” or “some.” We are describing, not speaking for anyone. Your neighbor is the expert on your neighbor.
We’ll get some things imperfect. If you live in one of these houses and we got yours wrong, tell us. That’s what neighbors are for.
Try it on
Count the houses on your own street you could describe without guessing. Did you see them, or the label?