TruthBook Religious News Blog

The Associated Press

Americans are learning more about Islam, and familiarity with the faith makes people more likely to view Muslims favorably and less likely to believe Islam encourages violence, according to a new study.

The survey by the Pew Research Center also showed that Americans still believe Muslims face far more discrimination than the nation's other religious groups.

The findings can be linked because increased knowledge about Muslims is tied to more sensitivity about bias they face, said Greg Smith, the report's senior researcher.

"To say that Muslims are discriminated against ... it's not the same thing as expressing an unfavorable view of Muslims. In fact it's just the opposite," he said. "People who are most sympathetic to a group are more likely to see that group as being discriminated against."

In the annual survey released Wednesday, 58% of Americans said there was "a lot" of discrimination against Muslims. Jews were seen as the religious group with the next highest level of bias against them, with 35% saying they faced a lot of discrimination.

Homosexuals were the only group seen as facing more discrimination than Muslims, with almost two-thirds of Americans saying homosexuals are discriminated against a lot.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article

Labels: bias, discrimination, Islam, Pew Research Center survey, violence

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Pew Research survey on science and public attitudes

July 9, 2009
Russell Krauss

Pew Research just published a survey it conducted in conjunction with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. "Public Praises Science; Scientists Fault Public, Media," is how Pew summarizes the results. That's good news as far as the public attitude toward science is concerned. After eight years of Bush administration foot dragging on climate change and the environment, it's refreshing that this evident hostility toward science and knowledge didn't spread beyond Washington. As far as the scientists are concerned, isn't that the attitude of everyone who is an expert in a certain field - that the public is woefully ignorant about the subject? That's human nature.

As part of the study, Pew included a short, 12 question general science quiz which it administered to a random sample of 1005 adults. Pew invites readers of the survey to take the quiz - but do so before reading the report. No peeking. I accepted the challenge, and it took only a couple of minutes to complete, and it was fun to see what sorts of questions they asked. You know the answers or you don't, so it won't take up much time, and then you can compare yourself against the sample by age, sex, and education. More on the results at the end of this post.

The basic survey was conducted among 2001 adults selected randomly from the general population, and 2533 scientists who responded to a mailing to nearly 10,000 members of the AAAS who were likewise chosen randomly. Note, though, the 2533 were not randomly selected, only the pool from which they were drawn. The report is quite lengthy, but well worth reading beyond the summary. I won't repeat the details that were highlighted in the introduction, but there were a few surprises and a couple of jaw-droppers.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article, plus a link to the survey results

Labels: AAAS, Pew Research Center survey, Russell Krauss, science

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Monday, July 06, 2009

New poll finds growing ‘religion gap’ between old, young Americans

By Nancy Frazier O’Brien
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON – There is a growing “religion gap” between older Americans and those under 30, according to a new Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends survey.

The study released June 29 found that one-fourth of Americans ages 18-29 said they were atheists, agnostics or had no religion, while only 7 percent of those 65 and over described themselves that way. Eighteen percent of those ages 30-49 and 13 percent of those 50-64 fell into the no religion/atheist/agnostic category.

At 7 percent, the under-30s also were more than twice as likely as those 65 and over (3 percent) to say they belonged to a religion other than Protestant, Catholic or Jewish.

Catholics made up 24 percent of the 65 and over group and the 30-49 group, 23 percent of those aged 50-64 and 20 percent of those between 18 and 29.

The 152-page study, called “Growing Old in America: Expectations vs. Reality,” addressed a variety of issues related to aging. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.6 percentage points for the survey, which involved telephone interviews with 2,969 adult Americans between Feb. 23 and March 23 this year.

Please click on "external source" for the rest of the article.

Labels: aging, Nancy Frazier O’Brien, Pew Research Center survey, religion

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Friday, March 06, 2009

Women More Religious Than Men

By Robert Roy Britt, Editorial Director
28 February 2009

A new analysis of survey data finds women pray more often then men, are more likely to believe in God, and are more religious than men in a variety of other ways.

The latest findings, released Friday, are no surprise, only confirming what other studies have found for decades. Still, the new numbers illustrate interesting and stark differences. They come from a fresh review of data that was collected in a 2007 survey and initially released last year by the Pew Research Center. The percent of women (and then men) who:

* Are affiliated with a religion: 86 (79).
* Have absolutely certain belief in a God or universal spirit: 77 (65).
* Pray at least daily: 66 (49).
* Have absolutely certain belief in a personal God: 58 (45).

The survey involved interviews with more than 35,000 U.S. adults by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

George H. Gallup, Jr., in an analysis for the Gallup polling organization back in 2002, wrote that the differences in religiosity between men and women have been shown consistently across the previous seven decades of polls.

Among the reasons women tend to be more religious:

* Mothers have tended to spend more time raising children, which often means overseeing their involvement in church activities.
* Though two-income households are more common today, in the past women often had more flexible daily schedules, permitting more church involvement during the week.
* Women tend to be more open about sharing personal problems and are more relational than men. Other Gallup research shows a higher proportion of women than men say they have a "best friend" in their congregation, he wrote.

Lastly, Gallup argued, "More so than men, women lean toward an empirical [depending on experience or observation] rather than a rational basis for faith."

There may be another reason. Rodney Stark, a professor of sociology and comparative religion at the University of Washington, flips the question around: Why are men less religious?

"Studies of biochemistry imply that both male irreligiousness and male lawlessness are rooted in the fact that far more males than females have an underdeveloped ability to inhibit their impulses, especially those involving immediate gratification and thrills," Stark argued in a 2002 paper in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.

The upshot is that some men are shortsighted and don't think ahead, Stark said, and so "going to prison or going to hell just doesn't matter to these men."

Stark may have purposely overstated the case, but you get the point. My wife suggested another reason: Life is simply harder for women. While I can't argue with that, I also can't find any research connecting that to prayer or church attendance.

Labels: faith, George Gallup, God, Pew Research Center survey, prayer, religion, Robert Roy Britt, spirituality, women

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Monday, December 24, 2007

U.S. Jews and Muslims seek paths to harmony

By Michael Conlon, Religion Writer

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Muslims and Jews, a tiny slice of the U.S. population, are looking for new ways to get along that could set a worldwide example for two ancient but often alienated faiths, religious leaders and experts say.

"I've encountered (among Muslims) a more centrist, a more moderate voice that is looking to the Jewish community to help project that voice ... to the greater world," said Rabbi Marc Schneier of New York, speaking of a national summit of imams and rabbis he helped organize earlier this year.

He also cited a recent incident in a New York subway "where four young Jews were being verbally and physically assaulted on a train for wishing the passengers a happy Hanukkah, and the only individual to come to their rescue was a young Muslim man," Hassan Askari, of Bangladeshi heritage, who was beaten.

"That is a very, very powerful example" of what can happen. The challenge is to try to strengthen Jewish-Muslim cooperation and have it serve as a paradigm for communities around the world," added Schneier, who founded the New York Synagogue in Manhattan and also the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.

On another front, leaders of the Islamic Society of North America and the Union for Reform Judaism, representing respectively the largest U.S. Islamic organization and the largest organized Jewish segment in the country, have agreed on a tutorial for dialogue.

SMALL PERCENTAGES

In a country of 315 million, Muslims number about 2.4 million, according to a recent Pew Research Center study, which also found them to be mostly middle-class members of mainstream society. Others believe the figure is several million higher, and no estimates are available on how many practice the faith.

There are perhaps 6 million Jews in the United States, only about a third of them affiliated with a congregation. Of those who do attend synagogue, 38 percent are Reform, 33 percent Conservative and 22 percent Orthodox, according to one survey.

Zahid Bukhari, director of the American Muslim Studies Program at Georgetown University, said Muslim-Jewish dialogue "is a new beginning."

One difference, he said, is that in places like Europe "within each country you will find a concentration of Muslims from a certain country," such as Algerians and Moroccans in France or South Asians in England.

"In America we have Muslims from 80 different countries. They are younger, they are more educated, more professional, more integrated into society and they feel more comfortable. And the host society here is different," he said.

But what is happening is a "model which I hope we could duplicate" globally, he said.

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, author of the newly published "You Don't Have to be Wrong for Me to be Right," said one thing that sets the U.S. situation apart is that no one speaks for all Jews or Muslims and this allows for openness.

"Even religious Muslims and religious Jews are more integrated into the fabric of general American society than in other countries like Britain and France. It is possible to be deeply and visibly religious and still participate in the public culture -- that's not true everywhere," he said.

Farid Senzai, director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, said there is a real effort at the local effort by mosques to develop joint activities with synagogues, and it goes down to the individual level as well.

"Muslims in this country have it much better off than elsewhere in the world," he said. "The Muslim community in the United States will in fact have a tremendous impact on Muslims elsewhere because they are able to debate and influence each other."

Amaney Jamal, of Princeton University, said Jews and Muslims share more in common in the United States than elsewhere "due to Muslim assimilation, but not in the cultural sense, rather in the socioeconomic sense. Muslims and Jews find themselves having to interact in many forums, be it university campuses or professional work places." (Editing by Alan Elsner)

Labels: dialogue, Jews, Michael Conlon, Muslims, Pew Research Center survey

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Fatherless Child

It is a unique cultural moment for the church to act like a family.

A Christianity Today editorial.
posted 10/09/2007 08:37AM

It's not remarkable to say our culture is confused when it comes to family. But the results of the recent Pew Research Center study on marriage and children are remarkable nonetheless.

The survey confirms that Christian notions about marriage and family are still an American ideal. The growth in births to unwed mothers is a "big problem," say 71 percent of Americans. They agree (69 percent) that children need both a mother and a father. Even as rates of births to unwed mothers have skyrocketed, this strong disapproval has held steady.

But the survey also notes that Americans are less able to live up to their ideals: Roughly 37 percent of births are to unwed mothers, and nearly half (47 percent) of adults have lived in cohabitating relationships.

"Marriage exerts less influence over how adults organize their lives and how children are born and raised than at any time in the nation's history," the survey says. Between 1960 and 2005, the rate of unwed childbearing increased sevenfold, from 5.3 percent of all births to 36.8 percent. The survey finds that the average unwed mother "is more likely to be white than black, and more likely to be an adult than a teenager. …" The survey attributes this "sharp increase in non-marital births" to "an ever greater percentage of women in the 20s, 30s, and older … delaying or forgoing marriage but having children."

For years, we have been preaching the supremacy of the two-parent family, offering classes and seminars for young couples and families. But the church is also caught up in an individualistic, ambitious culture, and we find it difficult to carve out time to offer ongoing, concrete help to single-parent families. We pray for them. We urge the parent to find a mate. But, to take the case above, it's hard to find a church that intentionally helps men of the church connect regularly with the children of single mothers. Would a "father program," on the order of Big Brothers and Sisters, be something the "family of God" might institute?

A single mother at Christianity Today International adopted two African American boys. Though she's given them extraordinary care and discipline, she has long felt that they desperately needed adult males in their lives. She says plainly that her church let her and her boys down in this regard. Only after one of the boys ended up in prison did the church's men rally around and enter this young man's life.

A dramatic example, but boys without father figures and girls without mother figures have a strike against them. The latest national study shows that more children than ever are entering the world with such strikes. It's an unprecedented cultural moment for Christians, to see if we can act less like individual consumers of spirituality and more like the family of God.

Labels: Christian, family, fathers, marriage, Pew Research Center survey, unwed mothers

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Friday, September 07, 2007

God & Man on The Trail

A Pew poll out today draws a fine line: It is important for presidential aspirants to be seen as religious, but most do not get a big bump from being perceived as "very religious." The new data also show how little the public knows about the religious and social views of the top presidential contenders as the campaigns kick into high-gear.

Across the board, if people believe a candidate is "not too" or "not at all" religious, they are not likely to view that candidate favorably. But there are smaller, if any, rating differences between those who say a candidate is "very" vs. "somewhat" religious. For example, 77 percent of those who see Giuliani as very religious rate him favorably, as do 73 percent of those who find him somewhat religious, but that dips substantially to 43 percent among those who find him less religious than that.

And faith matters: In the June Post-Kaiser-Harvard poll, 13 percent of Americans said a "strong religious faith" was an "absolutely essential" candidate quality, another 30 percent called it "very important." And both those numbers spiked higher among Republicans. (Religiosity trailed other candidate qualities in the poll; more, nearly half, mentioned "honest and trustworthy" as absolutely essential than any of the seven items tested.)

But underneath this finding is a broader point - many people have not yet focused on this important aspect of the campaign. In the new Pew poll, large percentages volunteered that they did not know enough to rate the candidates' religiosity. Nearly two-thirds say so about Thompson, more than half about Romney. And more than two in 10 couldn't rate Clinton's level of faith.

There is even lower awareness of Giuliani's position on abortion. Overall, about seven in 10 are not sure about the mayor's position on abortion (historically he has staked out a pro-choice stance). Among Republicans, six in 10 didn't give an answer. And more critically, Republican and GOP-leaning voters who know Giuliani is pro-choice are about as likely to view him favorably as those who are not sure.

The poll also reinforces the notion that Romney's Mormonism may have a negative impact on some voters. Here, a quarter of people say they'd be less likely to vote for a Mormon for president, while only 5 percent say they'd be more likely to support a Mormon.

A Muslim candidate would start with a even greater disadvantage - 45 percent would be less likely to support a Muslim candidate - but the biggest negative among those tested in the Pew poll would be a candidate who does not believe in God. More than six in 10 would be less likely to vote for a non-believer. That is another reason it is crucial for candidates to be seen as religious, even if not deeply so.

--Jon Cohen

Labels: candidates, faith, God, Jon Cohen, Pew Research Center survey, politics, religion

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Thursday, September 06, 2007

They can pray; can they lead?

September 4, 2007
Sandy Sasso

This past summer a survey by the Pew Research Center highlighted those characteristics that would make a person less likely to support a presidential candidate. Some of the results were heartening. The majority of respondents said that it made no difference if the candidate were black, Hispanic or a woman. When race, ethnic background and gender no longer determine a person's electability, then we have reason to celebrate.

Such knowledge about the American electorate might help to refocus the questions addressed to candidates. We can stop worrying about whether a person is black enough or woman enough or charismatic enough and start focusing on whether an individual is wise enough, visionary enough and knowledgeable enough to be president.

The survey offered other good news. More than half the people questioned indicated that it made no difference if a candidate were divorced or even had an extramarital affair. Perhaps this is an indication that Americans have decided it is time we stopped prying into candidates' private matters and making soap operas out of the lives of politicians. There is too much at stake for our country and the world.

The truth is that a person who might not be a good choice for a spouse might just be a great president. The truth is that we might just have more people interested in running for office if they had to worry less about skeletons in their home closets and more about domestic and international issues that will affect how secure we feel in our own homes.

But the survey pointed to some reasons for concern. The majority of respondents, 63 percent, indicated that they would be less likely to support a candidate who did not believe in God. That figure is more than 20 percent higher than the 46 percent of people who would be less likely to support a candidate who had no college education. And while Americans seem less concerned than in the past about what particular faith an individual politician affirms, a significant 39 percent would be more likely to support someone who is Christian.

There is reason to worry when issues of faith trump education, when what individuals believe is more important than what they know, when praying is of greater significance than learning.

Those running for office are well aware of the American predilection for belief in God. So they clamor to outdo one another in showing just how pious they are. They know that they have to be religious enough to get elected.

I am a member of the clergy, but I do not feel any more confident in a candidate's ability to run our country when I see him or her coming out of church, synagogue or mosque fresh from worship.

There is no doubt that belief in God can be good. It can be the foundation of moral character, responsibility and compassion. It can be a bulwark against complacency, selfishness and greed. But it isn't always. We all know of those who have professed belief in God and lived immorally. Everywhere in the world, there are people who oppress and go to war in God's name.

Religion can make good people better, but it can also make bad people worse by allowing them to believe without question that their decisions are already endorsed. The results of bad religion continue to make headlines in acts of terrorism, bigotry and violence.

We shouldn't be judging candidates by their professed belief in God or how many times they are seen attending worship services. It doesn't really tell us anything about how they would lead our country. We should rather be examining what policies they endorse, what they have to say about health care, education and poverty, about terrorism, international diplomacy and peace. In the end, that will tell us more about what they really believe in and what kind of leaders they will be.

Labels: clergy, God, leadership, Pew Research Center survey, politics, religion, Sandy Sasso

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Saturday, September 01, 2007

Religion Shaping Race and Defining Candidates

August 27, 2007
New York Daily News

NEW YORK - A crowd cheered fervently in Iowa this month as Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback quoted Mother Teresa telling him, "All for Jesus. All for Jesus. All for Jesus. All for Jesus."

Barack Obama's recently launched Spanish-language radio ad in Nevada tells the targeted Hispanic audience, "Barack Obama is a Christian man."

Hillary Clinton doesn't hesitate to let voters know the importance of prayer in her life, while Rudy Giuliani awkwardly dodges questions about his standing as a Catholic.

And then there's Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Everywhere he goes, Romney faces questions about his Mormon faith.

Religion has played a role in presidential elections throughout history. But not since 1960, when John F. Kennedy became the first Catholic elected to the White House, has it been as omnipresent on the campaign trail.

Historians and political experts say it's unlikely religion - or social issues embraced by Christian conservatives - will dominate the 2008 path to the Oval Office because the war in Iraq and homeland security seem uppermost in voters' minds.

"Nothing in the conversation, thus far, makes it sound like gay marriage and abortion are going to outshine the war," said Scott Keeter, director of survey research for the Pew Research Center.

But there's no escaping religion on the campaign trail. While other issues loom large, voters want to know where candidates stand when it comes to faith.

Bill Leonard, dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School and professor of church history, said the campaign now under way showcases the nation's "continuing religious saga."

A century ago, "nobody would have believed" a Catholic could be elected president, Leonard said. The 2008 race is "just another illustration of the power of pluralism in American religious experience, that indeed a Catholic was elected and that indeed a Mormon is running as such a potentially viable candidate."

Earlier this year, a Pew Research Center survey revealed religion continues to play a role in shaping voters' decisions. Nearly four in 10 Americans said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who is Christian, and 63 percent would not support a candidate who doesn't believe in God.

The poll showed 30 percent of Americans admitting they were less likely to vote for a Mormon. That hurdle rises to 46 percent for a Muslim.

For Clinton and Giuliani, the two New Yorkers seeking the Oval Office, the role of religion in their campaigns is a study in contrasts.

Clinton, a Methodist, talks freely about the power of prayer in her life. She's spoken publicly about how religion helped her overcome tough struggles, most notably her decision to forgive infidelity in her marriage.

"Obviously, my faith was crucial to the challenges I faced," Clinton recently told The New York Times, when asked whether her religion influenced her to stay married to Bill Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky affair.

But Giuliani, who had an affair with his current wife while married to his second wife, took a virtual vow of silence when asked in Iowa this month about his religious beliefs.

"My religious affiliation ... and the degree to which I am a good or not-so-good Catholic, I prefer to leave to the priests," said Giuliani, who once considered becoming a priest.

Former Sen. John Edwards, a Methodist, sparked controversy when he cited his faith as influencing his opposition to same-sex marriage. Later, at a forum on gay issues, he recanted. "I shouldn't have said that," said Edwards, drawing applause.

Many candidates, especially Democrats, feel compelled to discuss religion openly because President Bush's profession of faith played a prominent role in his successful 2000 and 2004 White House bids, giving the religious right plenty of political clout.

But when it comes time to pulling the lever, most experts said they doubt religion will be the deciding factor.

"There are some regions of the country where religious ideology and a certain kind of (faith) shape voters' decisions very much," Leonard said. But bottom line, Americans "want to know who is going to get us home from Iraq, and are any more bridges going to fall down, and what do we still do about New Orleans."

Labels: Barack Obama, faith, Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Pew Research Center survey, politics, religion, Sam Brownback, voters

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Friday, August 24, 2007

Poll: For Christians' identity, it's faith first, U.S. second

Editor's note: This is part of a series of reports CNN.com is featuring for "God's Warriors," a documentary hosted by CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

(CNN) -- Most Christians are more likely to describe themselves as Christian first and American second, according to a new CNN poll examining religious views in the United States.

A new poll finds that Christian respondents would describe themselves as "Christian" before "American."

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that of the 750 Christians in the survey, 59 percent identify themselves first by their faith, then as Americans, while 36 percent described themselves in the reverse.

CNN's findings are not that different from those in a recent Pew Research Center poll on Muslim-American attitudes. In that poll, 47 percent of Muslims in America say they are Muslim first, American second. Younger Muslims were especially likely to feel that way: 60 percent of them responded they were Muslim first.

CNN's research also found that Americans are now less likely to see the possibility for peace between Islam and Christianity. Of the total 1,029 adult Americans polled, 53 percent say conflict is inevitable between the two religions, up from 45 percent in 2003. Explore Americans' views on religions »

Those polled also said Islam was the religion most likely to use violence. Sixty-eight percent believe Islam is the religion most likely to have followers who would use violence to spread their religion, compared to 11 percent for Christianity and 4 percent for Judaism.

When asked about religion-related violence in the United States, about nine in 10 said they personally would not be willing to kill another person to uphold a religious belief or advance a religious cause. But asked how many other Americans would do so, more than a third responded "many" and "some;" a third said "few" and a quarter said "almost no Americans."

The CNN poll also found that 62 percent say that American society has strayed too far from its religious foundation in the past 50 years, while answers were split almost evenly on religion as a factor in government policy. Forty-five percent said religion should have no influence on government decisions, while 36 percent say it should have some influence, but not the major factor.

When it comes to the Bible, CNN's poll found that 57 percent say they believe the Book of Revelations' description of the violent end of the world, where all but Christians perish. Nearly one in five believes it will happen in their lifetime.

But of the 750 Christians in the poll, nearly eight in 10 said that people of other beliefs could get into heaven, while only 17 percent believe that only Christians can.

The poll was conducted between June 22-24, 2007, with a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Labels: "God's Warriors", Americans, Christian, CNN, Islam, Judaism, Muslims, Pew Research Center survey

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Saturday, July 28, 2007

Muslims tired of having their religion hijacked by terrorists

Wednesday, 25 July, 2007

Muslims around the world increasingly reject suicide bombings and other violence against civilians in defense of Islam, according to a new international poll dealing with how the world's population judges their lives, countries and national institutions.

A wide ranging survey of international attitudes in 47 countries by the Pew Research Center also reported that in many of the countries where support for suicide attacks has declined, there has also has been decreasing support for al-Qaida leader Osama bin-Laden.

The 95-page survey found that surging economic growth in many developing countries has encouraged people in these countries to express satisfaction with their personal lives, family income and national conditions, said Andrew Kohut, the center's director.

"It's a pro-globalization set of findings," Kohut said.

Most notably, the survey finds large and growing number of Muslims in the Middle East and elsewhere rejecting Islamic extremism. Ten mainly Muslim countries were surveyed along with the Palestinian territories, as well as five African nations with large Muslim populations.

For example, the percentage of Jordanian Muslims who have confidence in bin Laden as a world leader fell 36 percentage points to 20 percent since 2003 while the proportion who say suicide bombing is sometimes or always justified dropped 20 percent points to 23 percent. Other countries where support for bin Laden declined are Lebanon, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan and Kuwait.

The report said support for such bombings and terror tactics has dropped since 2002 in seven of the eight countries where data were available. In Lebanon, the proportion of Muslims who say suicide attacks are often or sometimes justified fell to 34 percent from 79 percent while just 9 percent of Pakistanis believe suicide bombings can be justified often or sometimes, down from 33 percent in 2002 and a high of 41 percent in 2004.

But support for suicide bombings is widespread among Palestinians, the report said, with 41 percent saying such attacks are often justified while another 29 percent say they can sometimes be justified. It found that only six percent of Palestinians - the smallest in any Muslim public surveyed - say such attacks are never justified.

Amid continuing sectarian violence in Iraq, the survey found there is broad concern among Muslims that tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims are not limited to that country and represent a growing problem for the Muslim world more generally.

Eighty-eight percent of Lebanese and 73 percent of Kuwaitis _ along with smaller majorities or pluralities of Muslims elsewhere in the Middle East _ said Sunni-Shiite tensions represent a growing problem for the Muslim world, the report said.

Globally, Pew's survey shows a clear linkage between economic conditions and views of national conditions.

This trend is particularly evident in Latin America and Eastern Europe, but China and India also stand out, the report said.

While Africans now express a greater sense of personal progress than in 2002, personal contentment remains low in all African countries relative to other parts of the world.

In Western Europe, Swedes and Spaniards express broad satisfaction with national conditions as well as with their governments and leaders.

"In contrast," the report said, "people in France and Italy, which have experienced little economic growth since 2002, are critical of their nation's course and their governments."

The French were polled before Nicolas Sarkozy replaced Jacques Chirac as president in May and gave jobs to several opposition Socialists in his Cabinet.

In China, where per capita gross domestic product, has increased 58 percent since 2002, its people expressed much more satisfaction than in 2002_ 83 percent now compared to 48 percent. The Chinese also give near universal support for the national government, 89 percent, and say the government has a very good or somewhat good influence on the way things are going.

But the pollsters in China were not able to ask respondents to express opinions about President Hu Jintao.

The polls _ with a sampling error of 2 to 4 percentage points, depending on the sampling size _ were taken in various countries from mid-April to the end of May, and involved about 1,000 samples in most countries. More interviews were conducted in India and China while fewer than 1,000 were carried out in European countries.

Source: Washington Post

Labels: Islamic, Muslims, Pew Research Center survey, religion, suicide bombings, terrorism

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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Is the United States really becoming a Christian nation?

By: Joe Morehart
Issue date: 7/18/07

Both the Christian cross and the American flag are often shown together in this country, and many preach patriotism as they say, "This is a Christian nation." To say this means to say that each individual inside the U.S. borders would agree with Jesus Christ, which is simply not true in a nation that depends largely on diversity of beliefs. It also means to say that Christ would agree with both the Christian church and with this nation's policies, which is highly unlikely, but impossible to know for sure.

"In God We Trust" was added to currency after the Civil War and "under God" was included in the Pledge of Allegiance after it was added by Congress in 1954. Is this the direction the Founding Fathers would have encouraged? This is impossible to know for sure.

History's truth has been spun and rewritten to serve the interpretations of different beliefs so much so, that some say our Founding Fathers were mostly deist, while others claim that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were based on the Ten Commandments.

Which is true? How much religion actually filters into governmental policies, and how realistic is the promise of a separation between church and state?

"[No elected official should be] limited or conditioned by any religious oath, ritual or obligation," John F. Kennedy said. Many polls, however, show that Kennedy's opinion is not entirely shared.

In a survey conducted in 2003 by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 52 percent said they would be reluctant to vote for an atheist and 38 percent said they would be reluctant to vote for a Muslim.

"I would suspect the real numbers are much higher," said Jeff Peake, political science professor at the University, said. "In those surveys, people tend to go for the more politically correct answer."

A favorable appearance for the candidate during the primaries is one of the most important reasons that they are elected. How much does religion affect the appearance of the candidate?

"If you are not Catholic or Protestant, religion is going to be the story," Peake said. "Just look at [Republican presidential hopeful and member of a Mormon church] Mitt Romney."

The media is quick to find the religious labels, which then become important, for one reason or another, to the candidates' identities. Is it more important what Romney thinks about health care or that he is a Mormon? Was it more important what Kennedy thought about civil rights or that he was Roman-Catholic?

Once in office, do the newly-elected officials govern based on what is best for the country or do they govern based on their religious beliefs?

The Pew Research Center, in the same survey attributed above, said that religion plays a role in the everyday life of 67 percent of those surveyed. Is this not the same for politicians whose "everyday life" consists of making and enforcing laws that the entire nation must obey?

Republicans have to appear more religious during their campaign to appease conservative voters, then once in office, they must compromise this religious appearance with the moderates and liberals in order to get their policy through, Peake said. To the Democrats, religion is less of an issue during their campaign so there is less of this compromise needed after being elected.

Gay marriage, stem-cell research, abortion, censorship, intelligent design versus evolution in schools and many other issues of today's world bleed over from religion to politics and are disputed on a daily basis. The separation of church and state as defined in the Constitution by America's founding fathers leaves the door open for different interpretations of what exactly that means. In the end, who has the authority to say that their beliefs are right?

Labels: America, Christian, Joe Morehart, Pew Research Center survey, politics, religion, separation of church and state

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Thursday, July 12, 2007

Survey: Muslim Americans, White Evangelicals Similar in Religious Fervor

By
Jennifer Riley
Christian Post Reporter
Tue, Jul. 10 2007 04:37 PM ET

The religious intensity of Muslim Americans is most similar to white evangelicals and black Protestants, according to a recent analysis of a landmark survey.

Although believers of Islam and Christianity are often portrayed as polar opposites or even antagonists, the new study on how Muslims compare to mainstream Americans showed that in many aspects Muslims and white evangelicals in America share many commonalities.

The Pew Research Center found that 72 percent of Muslim Americans, 80 percent of white evangelicals, and 87 percent of black Protestants say religion is “very important” in their lives.
These high percentages stand in contrasts to Catholics, only 49 percent of which said religion was “very important” in their life, and white mainline Protestants, only 36 percent of which responded likewise.

Moreover, Muslim Americans are similar to white evangelicals and black Protestants in their tendency to personally identify themselves first by their religion before their nationality.

Sixty-two percent of evangelicals, 55 percent of black Protestants and 47 percent of Muslims think of themselves first as a follower of their religion before describing themselves as an American.

In comparison, only 31 percent of Catholics and 22 percent of white mainline Protestants said they foremost consider themselves Christian before an American.

Religious holy books are also regarded highly by Muslims and the two Christian groups. They are more likely to regard their holy book as the word of God to be taken literally, word-for-word than Catholics and white mainline Protestants.

The majority of white evangelicals (66 percent) and black Protestants (68 percent) said they take a literal view of the Bible, while half of Muslim Americans consider the Koran as the literal word of God.

The percentage of those believing the Bible should be taken literally as the Word of God dropped under 30 percent for both Catholics and white mainline Protestants.

“None of this is to suggest that Muslims and Christians do not have distinctly different religious beliefs and practices,” commented the analysis’ authors Robert Ruby and Greg Smith.

“Nevertheless, the resemblance in religious intensity of Muslims to many groups that might think of themselves as wholly unlike Muslims is striking.”

However, Muslims and white evangelicals are markedly different when it comes to their political orientation. Muslim Americas are more politically liberal than evangelicals and are similar to black Protestants, secular Americans and white mainline Protestants.

Only 11 percent of Muslims say they are Republicans or lean Republican - a figure similar to black Protestants (10 percent). In contrast, 57 percent of white evangelicals responded that they are Republicans or lean politically right.

Muslim American’s left-leaning political stance was displayed during the 2004 presidential election where eight of ten Muslim voters (85 percent) supported John Kerry – a value similar to black Protestants (86 percent) and secular voters (67 percent).

Yet on the issue of homosexuality, Muslims take a similar position to white evangelicals with 61 percent saying the lifestyle should be discouraged by society. Similarly, 63 percent of white evangelical are oppose to homosexuality, according to Pew Forum.

“In many ways, Muslim Americans seem like a mosaic of many other American groups, sharing certain traits with these other groups while not being identical to any of them,” concluded the study’s authors. “They are anything but wholly apart; indeed, in important respects, Muslim Americans reflect the religious and political values held by most other Americans.”

Labels: Americans, evangelicals, God, Jennifer Riley, Muslims, Pew Research Center survey, protestants, religion

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Sunday, July 08, 2007

God Is In The Details

The Washington Post summarized a new Pew Research Center survey that shows there are significant foundational shifts in Americans’ understanding of what constitutes marital happiness and success.

In a front-page story on Sunday, reporter Donna St. George looked at the most substantial attitudinal change over previous years:

Children rank as the highest source of personal fulfillment for their parents but have dropped to one of the least-cited factors in a successful marriage, according to a national survey to be released today.

In a study that shows how separately marriage and children are viewed, Americans expressed great passion for their sons and daughters but clearly did not see them as the glue of their adult relationships.

On a list of nine contributors to success in marriage, children were trumped by faithfulness, a happy sexual relationship, household chore-sharing, economic factors such as adequate income and good housing, common religious beliefs, and shared tastes and interests, the nonprofit Pew Research Center found.

The article is very interesting and shows just how rapidly Americans are separating sex, marriage and children. As you might expect — along with a reader who passed along the story — there are some dramatic religious ghosts lurking inbetween the paragraphs of this story.

You’re probably not as nerdy as I am, by which I mean I like to read every survey, Supreme Court opinion and piece of legislation I can get my hands on. So you may not want to read the 91-page report [PDF] on which St. George wrote her story. But if you did, you would find that religious differences correlate with major differences of opinion recorded in the survey.

White evangelical Protestants and people of all faiths who attend religious services at least weekly hold more conservative viewpoints on pretty much the whole gamut of questions asked on the Pew survey. This is true across all age groups. For example, white evangelical Protestants are more likely than other religious groups to consider premarital sex morally wrong.

They are more likely to consider the rise in unmarried childbearing and cohabitation bad for society and more likely to agree that a child needs both a mother and father to be happy. They also are more likely to say legal marriage is very important when a couple plans to have children together or plans to spend the rest of their lives together. Further, white evangelical Protestants are more likely than white mainline Protestants to say that divorce should be avoided except in extreme circumstances and to consider it better for the children when parents remain married, though very unhappy with each other. In sum, white evangelical Protestants have a strong belief in the importance of marriage and strong moral prescriptions against premarital sex and childbearing outside of marriage.

The pattern is the same among those of any faith who attend religious services more frequently, compared with less frequent attendees.

Another interesting division in the survey was between white evangelicals and white mainline Protestants. Seventy-three percent of evangelicals consider it important for couples to legally marry compared with only 35 percent of white mainline Protestants, 43 percent of Roman Catholics and 20 percent of seculars. Of those who attend church more regularly, 69 percent say marriage is very important compared with 36 percent of the less religious and 27 percent of those who never or almost never attend church services.

The Pew report tried to paint a picture of people with traditional marriage views and, again not surprisingly, the religious angle appears:

Compared with other parents, they’re more likely to be white, well-educated and well-off economically. They also have a distinctive religious profile. They are more likely to be Catholic (32% vs. 21%) than other parents. They also are more observant; some 47% attend church weekly or more often compared with 38% of other parents. Politically, they’re more inclined to be Republican than other parents, and, ideologically, they’re more inclined to be conservative.
A majority are happy with their lives — some 55% report being “very satisfied” with their lives overall, compared with just 40% of the rest of the population.

That last sentence is interesting. The headline for the Washington Post story is “To Be Happy In Marriage, Baby Carriage Not Required.” That headline may be eyecatching for the aging baby boomers who make up the paper’s audience, but I’m not sure it’s quite right.

Stories about surveys tend to have a very short shelf life, but perhaps other reports will look into some of the religious ghosts.

Labels: children, Donna St. George, evangelicals, happiness, marriage, Pew Research Center survey, protestants