TruthBook Religious News Blog

By Helen T. Gray
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010

Americans hold a hodgepodge of religious beliefs and practices.

Most (82 percent) of American adults believe in God, according to a recent Harris Poll.

And large numbers believe in miracles (76 percent), heaven (75 percent), that Jesus is God or the son of God (73 percent), in angels (72 percent), the survival of the soul after death (71 percent) and that Jesus was resurrected (70 percent).

But also, 42 percent believe in ghosts, 32 percent in UFOs, 26 percent in astrology, 23 percent in witches and 20 percent in reincarnation.

A recent Pew Forum poll that focused more on religious practices and experiences revealed that "large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices, blending elements of diverse traditions." Many blend Christianity with Eastern or New Age beliefs.

The polls are a further indication of a continuing trend of organized religion losing its grip and a growing popularity of spirituality, said Tim Miller, professor of religious studies at the University of Kansas.

"There has been a decline in institutional religion, but at the same time independent spiritual experiences are going up," he said. "So there is a shift from classic institutional religion into a more diverse and sometimes nebulous spiritual outlook."

A contributing factor is the tremendous explosion of communications technology that enables a vast flow of ideas, he said.

"We used to have a few institutions generally accepted as authoritative," Miller said. "Now when you look at the Internet, you have thousands of people who claim to have authoritative information, so people can read an abundance of different viewpoints.

"And people pick a little of this and a little of that and put together their own points of view. People can convince themselves of practically anything, and they fit things together for themselves."

Also, he said, it has become more acceptable to adopt unconventional beliefs.

This trend is one that Urantia Book readers may find interesting. Please click on "external source" to access the entire article

Labels: Helen T. Gray, organized religion, Pew Forum, religious belief

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Sunday, December 20, 2009

More people seek out mix of religions

By Kelly Jasper| Staff Writer
Saturday, December 19, 2009

Claude Tate grew up Baptist. A move to Atlanta changed his mind.
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"I started questioning the things I believed," Mr. Tate said. He had already tried Methodist churches and Apostolic churches and had gone back to Baptist churches before deciding none was for him.

His spirituality now includes meditation, music and a Zen rock garden. The Augusta native attends Unitarian Universalist Church of Augusta, where he is studying pan-indigenous religions.

Americans are mixing Eastern practices, among other things, into their religion, according to a recent poll from the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life.

The survey found that the religious beliefs and practices of Americans no longer fit into conventional categories.

Though Americans overwhelmingly identify themselves as Christian, the poll says, they are customizing their beliefs by combining the traditions of various faiths and spiritual paths. A "sizeable minority" blends Eastern beliefs such as reincarnation or New Age ideas such as astrology in with traditional Christianity.

Sixty percent of adults say they have experienced supernatural phenomena such as communicating with the dead. With the exception of white evangelicals, supernatural beliefs are consistent across all religious groups in the United States, although older people expressed less acceptance of these beliefs than younger people.

Not just beliefs are shifting. Worship habits are, too, according to the Pew study, which found that nearly a quarter of Americans participate in services outside their faith.

In all, more Americans say they have had religious or mystical experiences.

A 1962 Gallup poll found that 22 percent of Americans had such an experience. Now, nearly half -- 49 percent -- say they've had a "moment of sudden religious insight or awakening."

Please click on "external source" to see the complete article, including a chart of survey highlights

Labels: Americans, Kelly Jasper, New Age, religion, religious belief, worship

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Friday, January 30, 2009

New Analysis Finds African-Americans are Markedly More Religious Than Overall U.S. Population

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On the eve of Black History Month, the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life released a new analysis (http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=389) that paints a detailed religious portrait of African-Americans. The analysis finds that African-Americans are markedly more religious than the U.S. population as a whole on a variety of measures, including reporting a religious affiliation, attendance at religious services, frequency of prayer and the importance of religion in people's lives.

Compared with other racial and ethnic groups, African-Americans are among the most likely to report a formal religious affiliation, with fully 87% of African-Americans describing themselves as belonging to one religious group or another. The analysis also finds that nearly eight-in-ten African-Americans (79%) say religion is very important in their lives, compared with 56% among all U.S. adults.

These are among many findings of the new Pew Forum analysis detailing the unique nature of religion in the African-American community. Other highlights include:

* A large majority of African-Americans who are unaffiliated with any particular faith (72%) say religion plays at least a somewhat important role in their lives; nearly half (45%) of unaffiliated African-Americans say religion is very important in their lives, roughly three times the percentage who says this among the religiously unaffiliated population overall (16%).

* African-Americans express a high degree of comfort with religion's role in politics, with roughly six-in-ten saying that houses of worship should express their views on social and political topics and roughly half saying that there has been too little expression of faith and prayer by political leaders. At the same time, most African-Americans support certain restrictions on the mingling of politics and religious institutions, with nearly six-in-ten (58%) saying that churches and other houses of worship should refrain from endorsing political candidates.

* The link between religion and some social and political attitudes in the African-American community is similar to that seen among the population overall. For instance, just as in the general public, African-Americans who are more religiously observant are more likely to oppose abortion and homosexuality and more likely to report higher levels of conservative ideology.

* On a variety of other questions, including political party identification and opinions about the proper role of government in providing services to the citizenry and assistance to the poor, there are few differences in the views of African-Americans across religious groups. Perhaps most strikingly, the partisan leanings of African-Americans from every religious background tilt heavily in the Democratic direction.

The analysis is based on the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Forum in 2007 and released in 2008, as well as other Pew Research Center surveys.

The report is for immediate release and is available online at http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=389.

The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life delivers timely, impartial information on issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs. The Pew Forum is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy organization and does not take positions on policy debates. Based in Washington, D.C., the Pew Forum is a project of the Pew Research Center, which is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Labels: African-Americans, faith, government, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, politics, religious belief

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Study: Americans 'Customize' Their Religion

CBNNews.com
January 14, 2009

CBNNews.com - A new nationwide study says a majority of Americans pick and choose their religious beliefs, effectively customizing their religion rather than adopting beliefs taught by a church.

The survey conducted by The Barna Group, claims that 71 percent of Americans say they are more likely to develop their own set of religious beliefs. Young people under the age of 25 led this particular 'a la carte' group.

The survey, released on Monday, also shows that among those people who describe themselves as being a Christian:

-Almost half believe that Satan does not exist.

-One-third say that Jesus sinned when he was on earth.

-Two-thirds say they do not have a responsibility to share the Gospel with others.

-One-quarter dismiss the idea that the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings.

George Barna, founder of the Christian survey group, said the findings show that a growing number of people are serving as their own "theologian-in-residence." This results in Americans embracing an "unpredictable and contradictory body of beliefs."

Those claiming to be "born-again" Christians indicated they would be least likely to a adopt an a la carte approach to their religious beliefs. But according to the survey, 61 percent say they also have mixed their set of beliefs.

The Christian Post noted the survey findings show Americans are now combining their beliefs from different denominations and even religions, instead of following the theological teachings of a denomination or church.

A Christian Nation?

The survey also revealed that Christianity is no longer viewed as the default religion of America. More than 50 percent of the respondents said that Christianity is no longer considered to be the automatic religious choice for Americans. Previous studies indicated a basic assumption among responders that if one was born in America, that person would automatically be affiliated with the Christian faith.

Despite the changes in religious beliefs, a majority of Americans still look to their religious faith as an important source for moral guidance. Nearly three out of four Americans said their faith influences their moral judgments.

The study's results are based on telephone interviews conducted by The Barna Group with a random sample of 1,004 adults selected from across the United States, ages 18 and older, during August of last year.

Sources: The Barna Group, The Christian Post

Labels: America, Barna Group, religious belief