Tuesday, April 22, 2003
Few atheists in U.S. foxholes
The old saying "There are no atheists in foxholes" turns out to be virtually correct, at least for the U.S. armed forces. About 0.1 percent of all American military personnel officially declare themselves to be atheists. That doesn't mean, however, that all service members belong to a particular religious denomination. About 27 percent do not volunteer to have a specific religious preference inscribed on their dog tags.
Congress prohibited the U.S. Census Bureau from inquiring about the religious affiliations of the general populace, which means there are no official statistics on the size of the various American faiths. The military, however, does ask about religion since it employs nearly 3,000 chaplains to meet soldiers' religious needs.
Overall, 44 percent of Americans in the volunteer military call themselves Protestants and 24 percent say they are Catholics, according to the Defense Manpower Data Center. The other major world religions are not heavily represented: Muslims and Jews make up 0.3 percent each, Buddhists 0.2 percent and Hindus 0.1 percent. The "other" category numbered 5 percent.
The religious makeup of the armed forces is similar to that of the general population. A 2000 Gallup Poll found that 56 percent of all Americans consider themselves Protestant, 27 percent Catholic, 2 percent Jewish, 1 percent Orthodox, 1 percent Mormon, and 5 percent "other." An additional 8 percent gave their religion as "none." That doesn't mean, though, that 92 percent of the public is active in an organized religion. About one of every three Americans said they did not belong to a church or synagogue.
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