One of the claims that a lot of online RCs & EOs make is that their traditions are the sole bulwark against progressivism. Another is that their churches inspire much greater piety & spiritual rigor than even faithful Prot churches do. But is this true? Let's find out. 2

How do they compare on church attendance? ⛪️ 3 32% of RCs & 39% of EOs say they "Seldom/Never" attend religious services. Only 29% of RCs & 23% of EOs attend religious services "at least once a week." By comparison, 50% of Ev. Prots attend church "at least once a week."

How do they compare on Scripture Reading? 📖 4 About 67% of RCs & 59% of EOs say that they "Seldom/Never" read their Bibles. Only 14% of RCs & 15% of EOs read their Bible "at least once a week." By comparison, 51% of Ev. Prots read their Bible "at least once a week."

How do they compare on prayer? 🙏 5 RC & EO stats on prayer are not so bad. 53% of EOs & 51% of RCs pray "at least daily." By comparison, 72% of Ev. Prots pray "at least daily."

Now that we've looked at a few markers of piety and compared them between traditions, let's take a look at how RCs, EOs, and Prots compare on a variety of important social issues. 6

How do members of each group self-identify politically? 🐘🫏 7 36% of RCs & 32% of EOs self-identify as Conservative. By comparison, 59% of Protestants self-identify as Conservative.

How do they compare on (so-called) same-sex marriage? 💍 8 70% of RCs & 58% of EOs say same-sex marriage is something they "Strongly favor/Favor." By comparison, 36% of Prots "Strongly favor/Favor" same-sex marriage.

How do they compare on pro-life issues? 👶 9 59% of RCs & 60% of EOs believe abortion should be "Legal in all/most cases." By comparison, 33% of Ev. Prots believe abortion should be "Legal in all/most cases."

How do they compare on divorce/separation rates? 💔 10 11% of RCs & 15% of EOs are "Divorced/Separated" By comparison, 12% of Ev. Prots are "Divorced/Separated" Interestingly enough, only 8% of Evangelical Lutherans are "Divorced/Separated."

A couple of final, important added comments & disclaimers are in order here ⬇️ 11

In conclusion, I continue my plea to everyone engaged in online apologetics... Don't just throw around outrageous statements fueled by empty hype and triumphalism. Vibes won't change reality. Hard work changes reality. And we all got a lot of hard work to do. 12

Source ⬇️ Pew Research Center: Religious Landscape Study (2023-2024) https://www.pewresearch.org/re...

@javierperd2604 I've pointed this out and the response is that recent immigrants who are culturally EO but not serious about it are influencing the numbers.

@javierperd2604 Almost all evangelicals are far left wing radicals religiously, because they allow divorce and contraception. So nearly every Evangelical Protestant is defacto less devout than Catholicism and Orthodoxy require.

@javierperd2604 I'm from Argentina. A "Roman Catholic" country. Most people never go to church. They don't know who Jesus or the apostles were. They have never read a Bible (most don't even own one). People get baptized, take communion once in their life and that's it.

@javierperd2604 Church attendance and reading the bible statistics do not equal piety or holiness if the doctrines are wrong. A prot can read the bible 5 hrs and it wouldn’t help if he interprets it to mean he doesn’t have to make an effort to be good, or he can still sin be saved.

@javierperd2604 why would the church attendance of heretical bodies and piety of schismatics matter

@javierperd2604 Once again, the online RC and EO apologists are caught peddling their fake news and propaganda. It is all myth and fables

@javierperd2604 Grew up in Romania in a majority orthodox area of course with with a sizable evangelical minority ( anywhere between 5 to even 20 pc in a few localities) . In my experience those orthodox that for x reasons wanted to get really pious, turned Pentecostal/Baptist. Otherwise people

@javierperd2604 Does this take into account the fact that lapsed Catholics and Orthos are more likely to identify as such than lapsed evangelicals?

@javierperd2604 They spread nonsense daily

@javierperd2604 Emotionally charged devotion to heresy is no devotion at all, nor does it address what is TRUE.

@javierperd2604 Remaining Protestant but learning about, respecting, and incorporating some EO and RC practices and ideas. The diversity in Christendom is beautiful and a blessing. Ecumenism and Christian unity for the win! Love one another!!

@javierperd2604 Do an estimate for OO. The numbers will leave all the others behind.

@javierperd2604 @redeemed_zoomer intresting stats!

@javierperd2604 I have heard of a resurgence of conservative young priests. Can you direct me to stats about that?

@javierperd2604 Let's make sure we balance the attack with some shocking data regarding the state of American evangelicalism. https://www.christianitytoday....

@javierperd2604 Some of these things are hard to parse. What counts as prayer? If I say something to God before eating is that prayer? Or Bible reading— how much counts and how deeply must one read to count it? Furthermore, as far as conservative what does it mean? Theology or politics

@javierperd2604 Why limit this to only Catholics who celebrate the Latin rite of the liturgy? Why not address us all in this discussion of the devout?

@javierperd2604 Catholics’ views on social issues in Canada indistinguishable from general public’s 🤷🏽‍♂️ i think it’s b/c most Catholics here lukewarm—re it’s a cultural artifact, inherited family practice, like “I’m of Portuguese heritage and ‘celebrate’ accordingly” devout Catholics, no = diff

@javierperd2604 ‘Devout’? Sends shivers down my spine. Only in America.

@javierperd2604 70% of U.S Catholics do not believe in transubstantiation. Yeah "devout" 🙄