Hinduism Today - HOW MANY HINDUS ARE THERE IN THE US?
and/or www.mantra.com/jai
How Many Hindus Are There In the US?
Hinduism Today
http://www.HinduismToday.com
January-February-March, 2008 Issue
(Hindu Press International note: This article appears in
the January/February/ March 2008 issue of Hinduism Today.
Full text below.)
Hinduism Today was recently asked to provide a definitive
estimate of Hindus in America. Our conclusion: as of 2008,
there are more than 2,290,000 Hindus in the US.
There are no official government statistics on the number
of adherents to any particular religion in America, because
the US Census does not collect data on religion. Estimates
are made mostly by national polls. These are useful for
large religious communities, but inaccurate for small ones.
For Hinduism, we believe the soundest approach is based on
the number of people in America of Indian origin. A single
assumption is then made, that the percentage of Hindus
among Americans of Indian origin is the same as the
percentage of Hindus in India, 81 percent. One could
quibble with this assumption. Some claim -- without
providing any evidence -- that there is a greater perc
entage of Christians among the immigrants than in India.
But with just 2.3% Christians in India, even a doubling of
that percentage in America would make only a slight
difference.
The US Census Bureau conducts an ongoing statistical study
called American Community Survey, which provides yearly
updates to the decennial American census. The Survey offers
up-to-date information on demographics, housing, society
and the economy in America, based on a sample of three
million households interviewed each year (out of 105
million). The 2006 Survey, which was released in October,
2007, counted 2,482,141 Asian Indians. This includes those
of Indian origin coming from countries such as Trinidad,
Kenya, Surinam and Fiji. To update this figure for 2008, we
must consider the average annual growth rate for Asian
Indians. In the year 2000, the decennial census counted
1,678,765 Asian Indians; the Survey estimated 2,482,141 in
2006, which works out to an annual growth rate of about 6.8
percent. Using that growth rate to extrapolate the 2006
Survey result two years, we calculate 2,831,190 Asian
Indians in 2008. Assuming 81% of these Asian Indians are
Hindus, just as in India, we conclude that of the 2,831,190
Asian Indians, 2,290,000 are Hindus -- qed! But despite the
compelling logic of this analysis, Hinduism Today has never
seen it published elsewhere. What about the other
estimates? An oft-cited number for Hindus in America -- the
figure cited on the US Census Bureau website itself -- is
derived from the American Religious Identification Survey
(ARIS) conducted in 2001 by the City University of New
York. This was a telephone survey involving 50,281
households. ARIS concluded that 0.4% of America's p
opulation, or about 1.2 million people in 2008, are Hindus.
In the absence of a more extensive study, this has become a
semi-official number, sustained by the ARIS report's easy
availability at the main US Census Bureau website. Before
the advent of the American Community Survey, there was no
way of challenging ARIS' conclusions. The ARIS report
forthrightly acknowledges its limits. It admits, "because
the survey depends on telephone interviews, overcoming
language barriers has proven prohibitively costly. In
effect, this survey has interviewed only the English-
speaking population of the US. In addition, many new
immigrants originate in societies and states where
responding to personal questions over the telephone is an
alien experience, and discussions of one's religious
beliefs and identification are deemed to be risky. " The
report's conclusion mentions the impressive growth of
Hinduism in America, observing, "there are more than three
times as many Hindus in the US today as there were in 1990.
Undoubtedly, due to the limitations of this study, we have
not picked up the full impact of those changes yet."
Unfortunately, the ARIS estimate is typically quoted as
fact, with no mention of these caveats.
Other figures are based on even less concrete information
than the ARIS results. Harvard's Pluralism Project
estimates 1,300,000 Hindus, based on the 2004 World Almanac
figure of 1,285,000 -- which, in turn, was based on
information from the 1999 Yearbook of American and Canadian
Churches. The Encyclopedia Britannica estimates 1,032,000
Hindus in America by 2000. The World Christian Encyclopedia
(1985 edition) projected 700,000 Hindus in 2000, at 0.3% of
the population, based on census date from the 1980s. The
popular website www.adherents.com uses the ARIS figure, but
updates it using growth estimates. All are no more than
educated guesses.Many Americans who are not ethnic Indians
embrace Hindu practice or belief to one degree or another.
Hundreds of thousands have flocked to swamis, pundits,
saints and teachers from India since the 1960s. A 2005
Harris poll commissioned by Yoga Journal found that 16.5
million Americans practice yoga regularly. A 2004 Gallup
Poll found 72 million Americans -- 24% -- believe in
reincarnation, an astonishing number that has held steady
for decades and cuts across all religious affiliations,
including even 10% of evangelical Christians. There is
almost certainly overlap among these groups, but it is
reasonable to state that at least a quarter of Americans
share significant Hindu beliefs and practices.
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/24fq83
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Jack Linthicum
Jai Maharaj) wrote:
> Forwarded message
>
> How Many Hindus Are There In the US?
>
> updates it using growth estimates. All are no more than
> educated guesses.Many Americans who are not ethnic Indians
> embrace Hindu practice or belief to one degree or another.
> Hundreds of thousands have flocked to swamis, pundits,
> saints and teachers from India since the 1960s. A 2005
> Harris poll commissioned by Yoga Journal found that 16.5
> million Americans practice yoga regularly. A 2004 Gallup
> Poll found 72 million Americans -- 24% -- believe in
> reincarnation, an astonishing number that has held steady
> for decades and cuts across all religious affiliations,
> including even 10% of evangelical Christians. There is
> almost certainly overlap among these groups, but it is
> reasonable to state that at least a quarter of Americans
> share significant Hindu beliefs and practices.
>
> http://www.HinduismToday.com
>
> Om Shanti
>
> Hindu Holocaust Museumhttp://www.mantra.com/holocaust
>
> Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophyhttp://www.hindu.orghttp://www.hindunet.org
>
> The truth about Islam and Muslimshttp://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
According to the United States Department of State's International
Religious Freedom Report 2004 [1], the number of Hindus in the United
States is approximately 1,478,670, or 0.5% of the total population.
The above figure consists of immigrants from countries where Hinduism
is an indigeous belief and their descendants, as well as Americans who
converted.
[1] http://www.councilofhindutemples.org/
and/or www.mantra.com/jai
Jack Linthicum <jackli...@earthlink.net> posted:
>
> Dr. Jai Maharaj posted:
> Religious Freedom Report 2004 [1], the number of Hindus in the United
> States is approximately 1,478,670, or 0.5% of the total population.
>
> The above figure consists of immigrants from countries where Hinduism
> is an indigeous belief and their descendants, as well as Americans who
> converted.
> [1] http://www.councilofhindutemples.org/
Judging by their actions, though, I think that the number of
Americans following one or more Hindu principles is much
higher than what is mentioned above.