Americans overwhelmingly believe in God and consider religion an important part of their lives, even as many shun weekly worship services, according to a national survey released today that also found great diversity in religious beliefs and practices.
Ninety-two percent of those interviewed for the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey said they believe in the existence of God or a universal spirit, and 58% said they pray privately every day. But California, like other states along the country’s two coasts, resisted the prevailing national tendencies.
Californians are less likely than other Americans to consider religion “very important” in their lives or to be “absolutely certain” in their belief in God.
Californians pray less than others in many parts of the country. They are less inclined to take the word of God literally. And they are ready to embrace “more than one true way” of interpreting their religious teachings.
I just watched a report on this survey this evening on ABC World News Tonight. I am hoping they put that report on their webcast tonight, but for those interested there is a link to the actual Pew Survey website. [url=http://religions.pewforum.org/reports]
I’m not sure if I have formated this correctly.
ABC interviewed a group of Episcopalians from St. John the Devine (I missed the city and state, sorry).
You may not be surprised to know that their responses to the questions fell in with the majority of those questioned in the survey. They basically stated that they do not believe God is personal and that he/she is a Universal Spirit.
Again, I am hoping that ABC puts the full report on their webcast page so that anyone interested can hear this first hand.
What ever it is it is not Christian.
There is so much in the report that is eye-opening. This is a reminder of what different understanding of Christianity exist in the U.S.:
70% of Americans believe that many religions can lead to eternal life (83% of the members of all mainline churches believe this).
68% of all Americans believe there is more than one way to interpret the teachings of their religion (82% of the members of mainline churches).
33% believe their sacred texts are the Word of God, to be taken literally, word for word; 30% believe they are the Word of God, but not to be read literally; and 28% believe they are written by men, and are not the Word of God.