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Guess who doesn't believe in God?
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| 11/2/03
| Netscape News
Posted on 11/02/2003 12:16:10 PM PST by mrs9x
Guess Who Doesn't Believe In God?
Ten percent of Protestants, 21 percent of Roman Catholics, and 52 percent of Jews do NOT believe in God.
That's the surprising word from a new survey by Harris Interactive of 2,306 adults that shows belief in God varies quite widely among different segments of the American public. How often do we go to a place of worship? Not much. Most people attend a religious service less than once a month. Still, Americans are far more likely to believe in God and to attend religious services than people in most other developed countries, particularly in Europe.
Who believes in God?
While 79 percent of Americans believe there is a God, only 66 percent are absolutely certain of it. Nine percent do not believe in God and 12 percent aren't sure. And weirdly, not everyone who calls himself or herself a Christian or a Jew actually believes in God.
Who worships at a religious service?
Just over half (55 percent) attend a religious service a few times a year or more. Thirty-six percent attend once a month or more often, and just 26 percent say they attend every week. Forty-one percent of women and 31 percent of men attend once a month or more. Protestants (47 percent) are more likely to go to church once a month or more often than are Roman Catholics (35 percent). Jews are least likely to go with 16 percent saying they go to synagogue once a month or more. Church attendance is highest in the Midwest and lowest in the West.
Belief in God by geography and age
Eighty-two percent of Midwesterners and Southerners believe in God, compared with 75 percent in the East and West. Our beliefs get stronger as we age. Of those 25 to 29 years old, 71 percent believe in God. That number jumps to 80 percent for people over 40, and hits 83 percent for those 65 and over.
Other fascinating facts about who believes in God:
84 percent of women believe in God, compared with 73 percent of men.
91 percent of African Americans believe in God, compared with 81 percent of Hispanics and 78 percent of whites.
87 percent of Republicans believe in God, compared with 78 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of Independents.
82 percent of those with no college education believe in God, compared with 73 percent who went to college.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: catholiclist; christianity; church; faith; god; islam; judiasm; polls; religion
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To: bluejay
Personally, I'd like to be taken to a tall bridge, have a stick a dynamite tapped to my body an lit, and then be tossed over at the right time so that it explodes halfway down.
BOOM!
61
posted on
11/02/2003 2:14:10 PM PST
by
Sofa King
(-I am Sofa King- tired of liberal BS! http://www.angelfire.com/art2/sofaking/)
To: Krodg
LOL!
62
posted on
11/02/2003 2:20:30 PM PST
by
Zipporah
To: freedumb2003
I wasn't expecting that!
To: mrs9x
I just saw an interview the Chris Matthews had with the *REVEREND* Al Sharpton. I thought this article was going to be about him....
64
posted on
11/02/2003 2:24:07 PM PST
by
Theo
To: TrappedInLiberalHell
Nothing good has come from the human tendency to shove one's beliefs in the face of others.I agree with you. I don't like other people telling me what I should be doing or believing or thinking.
I don't mind others who publicly profess their faith (as addressed by Willie Green in post #55), as long as they don't insist on my believing the same as they.
To: Tired_of_the_Lies
I agree. For me, it is a private decision. If someone else wants to profess their faith publicly, I support that whole-hearteredlyI'm glad we agree.
I'm not very evangelistic either.
But I'm sure you've noticed how some so-called "liberals" tend to spin the term "private" in order to stifle those who more openly profess their faith.
To: mrs9x
It is ridiculous that over 50% of self-described Jews do not believe in God.Perhaps it is reflective of the fact that the Jewish population of the US is actually falling. One can't help but wonder if younger Jews are looking at Israel and wondering what the glory of being chosen by God to be a Jew really is.
To: Lessismore
I wasn't expecting that! No one ever does!
68
posted on
11/02/2003 2:37:59 PM PST
by
freedumb2003
(Peace through Strength)
To: mrs9x
69
posted on
11/02/2003 2:41:31 PM PST
by
Truth666
To: The Great RJ
The French philosopher Pascal had a good take on the issue. He wrote that if you are uncertain of God's existence it would be better for you to live your life as if there was a God. When you die if you find out that God doesn't exist you have lost nothing. However, if live your life as if God doesn't exist and when you die find out he does, there will be some serious costs.Thank you... I thought that was St. Thomas Aquinas. I didn't know it was Blaise Pascal.
Mark
70
posted on
11/02/2003 2:47:29 PM PST
by
MarkL
(Chiefs 8-0! Wheeeeee!!!!!)
To: GeekDejure
Those that do not can NOT have a relationship with Him! How sad! I guess not many have the holy spirit.
MCD
71
posted on
11/02/2003 2:52:52 PM PST
by
MSCASEY
To: mrs9x
"84 percent of women believe in God, compared with 73 percent of men."
So do I get my 1.15 virgins in the afterlife?
72
posted on
11/02/2003 2:55:55 PM PST
by
shekkian
To: TrappedInLiberalHell
I'm agnostic. Been there. Done that. Wasted my time being there.
I won't attempt to answer all your questions, and I certainly don't want to argue. What you need to do is perform a bit of reading to examine some of these important questions and observations you have. It won't take too long, and there are good answers for each of them.
I recommend reading the New Testament, the Book of John. That should answer a lot of your questions and possible confusions. Come to your own conclusions.
73
posted on
11/02/2003 3:12:42 PM PST
by
Gritty
To: Lessismore
Not at all...I'm not saying we need an inquisition. It's just that it is asinine for someone to consider themselves Christian and not believe in God. All Christian faiths, regardless of practices, believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God. How can one then be a believer in Jesus as Son of God and not believe in God? It is a contradiction in terms.
There may be those who consider themselves "Christian" or "Jewish" and not believe in God, basing their characterization in some sort of amorphous cultural religion. But that still is ridiculous to consider oneself the follower of a certain religion and not believe in the central tenet of that religion.
74
posted on
11/02/2003 3:18:35 PM PST
by
mrs9x
Comment #75 Removed by Moderator
To: freedumb2003
Fetch....the comfy chair!
76
posted on
11/02/2003 3:23:23 PM PST
by
xp38
To: TrappedInLiberalHell
In order to be a Christian one needs to have a spiritual birth, laying down the life of sin to receive a new life through the salvation of Christ. It comes from realizing that you are estranged from God, desperately needing the mercy of God in order to be cleansed from your sin, which cleansing comes through the substitutionary death of Christ, the righteous one dying in place of the unrighteous. People who study Christ's teachings apart from recognizing their own spiritual depravity, never truly know Christ, their pride deceiving them into thinking they are becoming wise. These become false teachers, and do not recognize the blood payment needed for the forgiveness of their sins.
77
posted on
11/02/2003 3:45:58 PM PST
by
man of Yosemite
("When a man decides to do something everyday, that's about when he stops doing it.")
To: mrs9x
I think that there is a problem in polls like this, since they don't really define what "God" is. Lots more people believe in sort of an abstract "creator of the universe" god, or in sort of a "metaphysical spritual" god, than in an "anthropomorphic physical" god that would be the father of the son of god.
The result is that they consider that they believe in God, they also consider Jesus to be the "Son of God" in sort of a metaphorical sense, and they regard Christian morals, ethics, rituals, and community with some reverence. Thus, they consider themselves Christian.
To: tkathy
I do think more and more people believe in a god of inclusion, rather than a god of exclusion. It's hard to take seriously an old man sitting on a cloud, hurling down judgments. I've heard this stereotype a lot, but I've never met one single Christian who believed it. "In Him we live, and move, and have our being" does not equate to Patriarch-on-a-cloud. And most people who believe in a god of inclusion seem to me to be frantically grasping for excuses to avoid believing in any god at all.
By the grace of God, I've had one or two intense experiences of his presence. They didn't leave room for unbelief. :-) Scariest moments of my life, and I'd give anything to have them again.
79
posted on
11/02/2003 4:05:46 PM PST
by
Foxfire4
(...wondering if patriarch-onna-cloud is any relation to sausage-inna-bun..?)
To: mrs9x
Want some really interesting numbers to crunch ask the question and insert JESUS instead.
80
posted on
11/02/2003 4:40:59 PM PST
by
winker
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