[Loki]

Although some say Wicca is the fastest growing religion in the United States, most Americans still say they have never heard of the term before, according to a new survey released Monday.

Slightly more than half of Americans (55 percent) say they have not heard of Wicca, a national survey conducted by The Barna Group found. Among those that have heard of the religious group, most have an unfavorable view (52 percent) of it.

Those most likely to hold a “very unfavorable” view of Wicca were found among residents of the South and Midwest (52 percent of whom had a very unfavorable opinion); born-again Christians (67 percent); and socio-political conservatives (61 percent).

Two-thirds (62 percent) of those who have heard of Wicca described it as an organized form of witchcraft. A much smaller percentage of Americans think Wicca is a form of Satanism (7 percent) or a religious cult (7 percent).

Wicca is a loosely organized, under-the-radar religious group that is best known for its use of magic sorcery, and engagement in witchcraft. It has no recognized guidebook or body of “sacred literature” to define its practices, but instead is based on rituals and pagan beliefs.

Members go through initiation rites and worship gods and goddesses found in nature. In general, Wiccans embrace the concept of karma and reincarnation, and do not follow any strict code of morality.

The growing religious movement is most popular among young people, who are increasingly interested in witchcraft and are comfortable with the idea of worshipping nature, according to The Barna Group.

Yet despite its mounting popularity, very few people claim to be Wiccan. Based on interviews with more than 4,200 adults in 2008, The Barna Group found that Wiccans represent about one-tenth of one percent of all American adults.

In other words, among the nation’s 230 million adults, less than 250,000 people claim Wicca as their primary faith group.

The report is based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,203 adults across the United States, age 18 and older, in November 2008.

Source: The Christian Post

[Countess]

The first problem I see is that this article & the survey were carried out by a Christian newspaper. This will slant the result.

i agree with that. since this is made by christians, the answers will be biased.

Hold on a second, guys...

Now I'm the first to be skeptical of a religious opinion, but come on now...
Just because it came from a Christian source doesn't necessarily mean it's entirely worthless, nor does it mean that it's any more biased than any other source.

[SherlawkDragon]

Just because it came from a Christian source doesn't necessarily mean it's entirely worthless, nor does it mean that it's any more biased than any other source.

Yes, quite shamefully, you attacked it on a nothing compared to a certain number that is very important to the results of a survey, noted near the end of the article.
Anyway, I don't find this article's figures particularly shocking.  Nor do I find it's attitude and informational content to be surprising (considering the source).
I really am somewhat pressed to ask: why did you post this?  Just found it and wanted to share?

we didn't say that it was all worthless. we just said that it would provide a weak defense to its survey since it is made by a christian group

Again, the unsubstantiated claims. So what if they're Christians? Again, as much as I dislike religion, well...I dislike RELIGION. Objective statistics are objective statistics regardless of who they come from.
Besides, what sort of bias would make them come to the conclusion that most Americans don't know what Wicca is? The fact is, most Americans are pretty ignorant of other belief systems, especially ones concerning traditional/pagan or occult beliefs.

so what? come on. they're christians. what do you expect from them? all i see when i hear that word are a couple of obsessed people to some god that's full of conspiracies and have teachings that are sometimes contradictory.

yes, the statistics they made has some sense and value but the fact still remains that the answers will be biased. of course they'll say that wicca is unknown to most people and not just because people are ignorant of paganism. what will they do? like they always do. they try to spread some supposed good news and try to convert people, showing the world how aggressive they really are

so what? come on. they're christians. what do you expect from them? all i see when i hear that word are a couple of obsessed people to some god that's full of conspiracies and have teachings that are sometimes contradictory.

No, they're not Christians. They are people who happen to follow the Christian religion. In most cases generalizations can be made, but in this case your fervor has blinded you into instantly being on the offense with no justification.
Also, you even admit that YOU are biased against Christians and that has colored your judgement. Irony sure is a beautiful thing.

yes, the statistics they made has some sense and value but the fact still remains that the answers will be biased. of course they'll say that wicca is unknown to most people and not just because people are ignorant of paganism. what will they do? like they always do. they try to spread some supposed good news and try to convert people, showing the world how aggressive they really are

Okay, stop. Just stop.
1. Those stats WERE NOT collected by the Christian Post. They were merely reported by them.
2. The stats do not say ANYTHING GOOD OR BAD about Wicca. They merely say that most Americans don't know about it. Nothing more. Guess what, slick? I'm an American, and I encounter conservative Christians EVERY DAY. And you wanna know what? Those stats are right. Most people DON'T know what Wicca is. Has nothing to do with some massive Christian conspiracy that your delusional mind has concocted.

Now, get back to the motherf*cking topic or it's locked.

[SherlawkDragon]

Kreepy beat me to it...  in any case, I question the worth of these results for the same reason I hinted at about an important number when it comes to surveys, but I really have to admit: for the same reasons that Kreepy said, these do not surprise me.  And Vince: drop the source here, it's not important to the survey as much as the rest of the article.  Look at the rest of the article.
So: does anyone find anything truly interesting about the CONTENT of this article?  I'm curious?  What is it and why? ('cause I see nothing, heh)

What I find interesting is how so many people seem to be unaware of a belief system that, according to their own beliefs, they should hate. You'd think that there would be more people that actively dislike Wicca than there are people who don't know wth it is, especially in a day and age where more and more Christians are becoming aware of beliefs other than their own due to society becoming slightly more tolerant.

[SherlawkDragon]

What I find interesting is how so many people seem to be unaware of a belief system that, according to their own beliefs, they should hate. You'd think that there would be more people that actively dislike Wicca than there are people who don't know wth it is, especially in a day and age where more and more Christians are becoming aware of beliefs other than their own due to society becoming slightly more tolerant.

That actually reminds me of something: My father is into Metaphysics such as Astral-Projection, and one time I asked my mother if he was an Occultist (he sorta is), and she said no, she wouldnt have married him if he was, so I asked her what she thought it was, and she was under the impression that it had something to do with "dark magic".  She knew of course, that she had no real knowledge in this area, and when I told her what it really was she was like "oh... ok.".  I later asked if she would have a problem if I married a pagan, and had a pagan wedding.  She actually didn't have a clue what "pagan" was, only had some idea that it wasn't christian.
Your point IS a good one: Christians, (and I'm talking about the hyper-evangelist type ones here) will rail and rant and sometimes riot, and they'll try and socially destroy you, maliciously attacking you publicly in every facet of your life for dissenting and openly encouraging and defending a non-christian belief, but if you ask them, they'll tell you straight up, that not only do they have no idea what non-christians actually believe or think (or that they have anything going on in thier minds at all), but they proudly refuse to even listen or do anything to try and find out, as they are trying to "lead you the way of satan" by telling you lies.  Pretty ignorant, arrogant, and utterly absurd.

[jordyn]

i find it fascinating people are more outraged by it being a christian poll rather then the ignorance in our world when it comes to world religion...i think that speaks volumes.

considering wicca's only been around since the sixties, most associate it as witchcraft and you ask most anyone not on top of the occult world,  very few realize there's a difference between wicca or witch, go to a site that focuses on the occult and you'll see that question frequently.  with shows like charmed, the craft, disney family halloween specials and teen horror leaving no designation between a witch, wiccan or pagan and understand that until the eighties when wiccans were coming out on geraldo and springer most of mainstream america had no clue that the occult was anything but satanic as preached by traditional church leaders.

 i think their ignorance is less of a crime than those who are "enlightened" and blame a christian magaizine for skewing the ignorance of america, trust me...we don't have to slant that, i witness it every day i'm online as a christian, a few have even demonstrated it sublimely in this thread, it goes beyond christian and straight down to what sort of people are out there regardless of what faith they claim.

but the weak need their scape goat...

[SherlawkDragon]

i find it fascinating people are more outraged by it being a christian poll rather then the ignorance in our world when it comes to world religion...i think that speaks volumes.

Oh yeah, kinda reminds me of the forums masquerading under the title of The Werelist (RIP): "you think they know about us?  You think they know about us?" NO THEY DONT.  It's a fantasy to think that everyone in the world knows about things like Wereism, or that such things will ever become mainstream knowledge.
Actually, when you think about it, that number, 45%, is surprisingly high.  And the percentage of people who think it is a form of Satanism or a cult (%15) is surprisingly low, especially with Christians who consider any non-Christian belief to be Satan worship created by Satan.  Though, still, the number of people surveyed (which I have been pointing to), is very low, only a thousand out of millions it's supposed to speak for...

[jordyn]

how many people answer random survey calls?

mathematics have always been problematic for me when being tied in with the occult.