TruthBook Religious News Blog

By Michelle A. Vu
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Jul. 16 2009

About one out of every three scientists in the United States professed believing in God, a recent survey found.

That figure is strikingly lower than the proportion of the general American public that say they believe in God (83 percent), according to the report by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

However, a Christian biochemist after examining the report said the comparably small number of scientists who believe in God is nothing to be alarmed over.

Dr. Fazale Rana, vice president of research and apologetics at Reasons to Believe ministry, said the percentage of American scientists who believe in God has remained constant for more than three-quarters of a century.

In the early 1920s, he explained, there was a similar survey conducted that found a similar proportion of scientists who believe in God.

"I see a lot of reason to be very encouraged by these results," said Rana, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry and was a senior scientist in product development for Procter & Gamble, to The Christian Post on Wednesday.

"The take home message is that if science and religion are incompatible then there is no way we would still see 30-40 percent of scientists acknowledge there is a God or higher power behind everything," he contended.

Besides asking about belief in God, the survey also asked the public and scientists about their belief in a higher power. Eighteen percent of scientists said they believe in a higher power or universal spirit, while 12 percent of the public said so.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article.

Labels: belief, God, Michelle A. Vu, scientists, survey

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Friday, November 21, 2008

Survey: Most Youth Worldwide Spiritual, Say Religion is Good

By Michelle A. Vu
Christian Post Reporter
Mon, Nov. 17 2008

Page one of a two-page article. Please click on "external link" at the bottom to access entire article

The majority of youths in the world say they are spiritual and think religion and spirituality are both positive, according to an extensive, first-of-its-kind survey.

Fifty-seven percent of young people (ages 12-25) see themselves as being spiritual, reported the survey by Search Institute’s Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence that was sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation.

The research surveyed more than 7,000 young people from a wide range of cultural and religious backgrounds, spanning 17 countries and six continents. It took two years to complete the study that offers one of the first snapshots of spiritual development across multiple countries and traditions.

“We have spent two years listening to youth ages 12 to 25 from many countries and traditions talk about spiritual development and its role in their lives,” reflected Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, co-director of the Center for Spiritual Development, in a statement. “Many young people are keenly interested in these issues, but relatively few have opportunities to talk with others about the things that really matter to them.”

The survey found that about one in three youths consider themselves “very” or “pretty” spiritual, but this varied vastly across countries. The high was in the United States where 52 percent of the youth self-described themselves as “very” or “pretty” spiritual, and in Thailand where 50 percent gave this same response.

In contrast, Australia had the low of 23 percent youth who said they were highly spiritual. Almost half of the youth surveyed in Australia (47 percent) indicated that they are not spiritual, compared to only 12 percent in Thailand and about 20 percent in Canada, India, Ukraine, and the United States.

Religion and being spiritual are related but different, according to the world’s youth. Respondents are still most likely to say they are both spiritual and religious (34 percent). Nearly a quarter (23 percent) say they are spiritual, but not religious.

One in five of the youths indicated they don’t know.

American youths’ response was slightly different. They were more likely to say they are both spiritual and religious (43 percent) than the world’s youth in general (34 percent). A comparable number to international youths said they are just spiritual (27 percent).

Being spiritual, for this young generation, most often is associated with believing in God (36 percent), followed by believing there is a purpose to life (32 percent), and then being true to one’s inner self (26 percent).

But the most popular definition for being spiritual differed across countries and culture.

Indian youths were more likely to say being true to one’s inner self (38 percent) is being spiritual more so than believing in God (33 percent).

Whereas in Canada, the youths said being spiritual is believing in God (52 percent) and then believing there is a purpose to life (48 percent). Also, more than a quarter of the participants from Canada (28 percent) said spirituality involves having a deep sense of inner peace or happiness, which was unique to Canadian youths.

Meanwhile young people in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States all defined spirituality first and foremost as believing there is a purpose to life. Believing in God was ranked second at 33 percent for youths in the United States.

Labels: Michelle A. Vu, religion, spirituality, youth

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Survey: Most Americans Believe God Uniquely Blessed U.S.

By Michelle A. Vu
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Oct. 23 2008

This is page one of a two-page article. Please click on "external link at the end of this page.

WASHINGTON - Most Americans strongly believe that God has uniquely blessed America, and a similar majority believe that the United States should set the example as a Christian nation to the rest of the world, a survey, released Wednesday, found.

Sixty-one percent agree that America is a nation specially blessed by God, and 59 percent believe the United States should be a model Christian nation to the world, according to a poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Inc. for the PBS news program Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and the United Nations Foundation.

Support for the idea that America is uniquely blessed by God was highest among people who attend religious services weekly (80 percent), with 86 percent of evangelical Christians sharing this belief. In comparison, less than half (48 percent) of those who attend religious services less regularly held the same view.

The nationwide survey of 1,400 adults, including an oversample of 400 evangelical Christians aged 18-29, was conducted to find how religion shapes people’s view of America’s role in the world and its foreign policy.

People who strongly believe that America is blessed by God and should set a strong Christian example are also more likely to say that the United States is morally obligated to play a significant role in world affairs.

Overall, most Americans also believe the United States has a responsibility to be very engaged (24 percent) or moderately involved (70 percent) on the global stage. However, most Americans believe (67 percent) the United States’ relation with the rest of the world is on the wrong track.

In terms of foreign policy priorities, there was not much of a difference between what the general American public and what white evangelicals consider most important issues. They both agree that controlling nuclear weapons around the world and fighting global terrorism are the two top agendas for Washington.

There were also no significant differences between the two groups on other issues such as fighting global disease, preventing genocide in countries like Sudan, improving the standard of living in less developed nations, and promoting democracy in other nations.

What the general American public and white evangelicals most sharply contrast on in terms of foreign policy priorities is supporting Israel - 65 percent of white evangelicals consider this extremely or very important compared to 46 percent of the general American public; promoting religious freedom in other nations (67 percent white evangelicals vs. 53 percent); combating global warming (43 percent vs. 59 percent); and providing women with reproductive healthcare (53 percent vs. 60 percent).

Differences can be explained by religious views held by evangelical Christians, who largely see Israel as the birthplace of Christianity and link abortion to reproductive healthcare.

In addition to examining faith groups as a whole, the survey also looked in particular at young white evangelicals.

Labels: America, evangelicals, God, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Inc, Michelle A. Vu