American Religiosity
Another neat article from Newsweek today giving the results of a poll on Americans’ religiosity. Here’s a snippet:
“A belief in God and an identification with an organized religion are widespread throughout the country, according to the latest NEWSWEEK poll. Nine in 10 (91 percent) of American adults say they believe in God and almost as many (87 percent) say they identify with a specific religion. Christians far outnumber members of any other faith in the country, with 82 percent of the poll’s respondents identifying themselves as such. Another 5 percent say they follow a non-Christian faith, such as Judaism or Islam. Nearly half (48 percent) of the public rejects the scientific theory of evolution; one-third (34 percent) of college graduates say they accept the Biblical account of creation as fact. Seventy-three percent of Evangelical Protestants say they believe that God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years; 39 percent of non-Evangelical Protestants and 41 percent of Catholics agree with that view.”
Part of what always makes me curious about these surveys is those who identify themselves as “non-religious” as opposed to those who identify themselves as “non-Christian”. What makes someone religious? Is it if they say so? Is it if they subscribe to a particular set of beliefs or practices? Where does a Taoist fit into this — would they say they’re religious or non-religious? Would a Buddhist say they believed in God, or no? The view you get from the first line of the article (”a belief in God and an identification with an organized religion”) says one thing, but I wonder if that’s the criteria upon which people were actually answering the question. What about those who are religious, but neither believe in God, nor identify with an organized religion? Questions, question…
But you know what they say about statistics… 99% of all statistics are useless. ![]()
What is Religious Studies?
Religion: What’s In, and What’s Out
The 20 Year Gap (Or, Why This Website?)
When Truth Doesn’t Mean True
Sinking the (Not So) Good Ship “Jesus’ Family Tomb”














