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In this issue: The Vital Role Religion Plays in Shaping the American Life

Be sure to check out additional resources at the end of the article for futher study. As always, we welcome your feedback!

The Vital Role Religion Plays in Shaping the American Life

by Brian Corcoran
Research Associate, Emmanuel Gospel Center
Managing Editor, Emmanuel Research Review

How does religion influence public affairs in America? What are the personal religious beliefs and practices of Americans and how do they influence their social and political views? And to what extent are these social and political views shaping America's decisions with regard to political party affiliation and hot button issues like abortion, homosexuality, or diplomacy versus military action?

As many continue to discuss the significance of personal religious beliefs and their influence in America's public life and political process, the recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life presents information from over 35,000 respondents that suggests a significant and strong connection between religious beliefs and practices and America's social and political thinking.

Luis Lugo, Director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, describes the June 2008 study as "a wealth of information on the religious beliefs and practices of the American public." The study includes responses regarding belief in God, the afterlife, the authority of scripture, prayer, worship service attendance, and participation in other corporate religious practices. Lugo adds, "The public's views on religion's impact on society, conflicts between religion and society, religion and morality, and the links between religion and life satisfaction," are also explored in the study.

As many would expect, the study reveals that "the diversity of opinion that exists on a variety of political and public policy issues among and within the country's various religious groups." But even more specifically, the study traces the connections from personal beliefs and practices to "ideological and partisan orientation; attitudes on abortion, homosexuality, evolution and other social issues; views on the size and proper role of government, the environment and helping the needy; and opinions on foreign affairs." Like all studies, the June 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Study has its limitations. Even so, Lugo hopes it will be "a valuable addition to the growing body of research on the role religion plays in the personal and public lives of Americans," while also complementing the February 2008 study which "detailed the religious affiliations of the American public and documented the impact of changes in affiliation, immigration and other factors."

Selected Study Findings to Consider

Religion in America is important, non-dogmatic, diverse, and politically relevant

• More than half of Americans say that religion is very important in their lives, attend religious services regularly, and pray daily.
• Most Americans agree with the statement that many religions—not just their own—can lead to eternal life.
• More than two-thirds of adults affiliated with a religious tradition agree that there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their faith.
• There is a close link between the religious affiliation, beliefs, and practices of Americans and their social and political attitudes.

Conception of God and Certainty of Belief

• 92% of adult Americans believe in the existence of God or a universal spirit.
• However, within that group there is considerable variation in the nature and certainty of this belief.
  • 60% believe God is a person with whom they can have a relationship.
  • 25% see God as impersonal.
  • 71% believe in God with absolute certainty.
  • 22% are less certain.

Belief in an Afterlife

• 74% of Americans believe in an afterlife and the existence of heaven as a place where people who have led good lives are eternally rewarded. Belief in afterlife is more common among Christian traditions.
• 62% of Buddhists believe in Nirvana.
• 61% of Hindus believe in reincarnation.
• 39% of Jews says they believe in an afterlife.
• 48% of the unaffiliated believe in an afterlife.
• 59% of Americans believe in hell.

Diversity within Core Beliefs

• Americans display a high degree of similarity on some basic core religious beliefs. For example, 92% say they believe in God, 74% believe in life after death, and 63% believe that scripture is the word of God.
• But a closer look reveals considerable diversity with respect to both the certainty and nature of these beliefs.

Preservation and Adaptation of Beliefs

• 44% of American adults who are affiliated with a particular faith say their religion should preserve its traditional beliefs and practices.
• More than half of Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and evangelicals say their religion should preserve its traditional beliefs and practices; in contrast, less than half of members of historically black churches feel this way.
• 35% say their religion should adjust to new circumstances.
• 12% say their religion should adopt modern beliefs and practices.

Miracles, Angels and Demons

• 79% of Americans believe that miracles still occur as in ancient times.
• 61% of evangelicals completely agree that miracles occur today.
• 58% of members of historically black protestant churches completely agree that miracles occur today.
• 68% of Americans believe that angels and demons are active in the world.
• 61% of evangelicals are completely convinced of the existence of angels and demons.
• 59% of members of historically black churches are completely convinced of the existence of angels and demons.
• 73% of Jews do not believe that angels and demons are active in the world.

Religious Practices

• 54% of Americans say they attend religious services fairly regularly (at least once or twice a month).
• 39% of Americans say they attend worship services every week.
• 58% say they pray every day.
• 39% say they meditate at least once a week.
• 31% of Americans say their prayers result in definite and specific answers from God at least once a month.
• 36% of Americans say they share their faith with others at least once a month.

Authority and Interpretation of Sacred Texts

• 63% of the public takes the view that their faith’s sacred texts are the word of God.
• 33% percent believe their text should be interpreted literally, word for word.
• 27% percent say it should not be taken literally.
• More than a quarter of all adults—including 53% of Jews—say their faith’s sacred texts are written by men and are not the word of God.
• Among Christians a large majority believe that the Bible is the word of God, but the various Christian traditions are divided over whether or not the Bible should be interpreted literally and word for word, or should not be interpreted literally.

Religion and Moral Values

• 78% of Americans say there are absolute standards of right and wrong.
• 52% say they rely primarily on practical experience and common sense for guidance regarding right and wrong.
• 29% say they rely mainly on their religious beliefs for guidance regarding right and wrong.
• 52% of evangelicals say they rely primarily on their religious beliefs for guidance between right and wrong.

Religion and Modern Society

• 62% of Americans reject the idea that religion causes more problems in society than it resolves.
• 54% of Americans who have a particular religious affiliation say they do not see a conflict between being a devout person and living in a modern society.
• 44% of atheists say they sense conflict as a non-religious person living in a society of religious people.
• Many Americans see a conflict between their values and popular culture.
• 56% of Americans reject the idea that Hollywood and the entertainment industry poses a threat to their values.
• The level of concern between religion and popular culture tends to be strongest among the most religiously active adults, as measured by such factors as frequency of prayer and attendance at worship services.

Religion and Social Political Ideology

• 14% of Americans cite their religious beliefs as being the main influence on their political thinking.
• 13% cite their education as being the main influence.
• 34% cite their personal experience as being the most important in shaping their political views.
• But, despite America’s general reliance on practical experience in shaping their political thinking, there are strong links between America’s views on political issues and their religious affiliation, beliefs, and practices.
• Religion may be playing a more powerful, although indirect, role in shaping people’s thinking than most Americans recognize.
• The findings of the survey underscore the importance of affiliation with a particular tradition for understanding not only people’s religious beliefs and practices but also their basic social and political views.
• The connection between religious affiliation and politics appears to be especially strong when it comes to certain “culture war” issues like the legality of abortion or whether homosexuality is a way of life that should be discouraged or accepted by society, although there is more agreement across religious traditions regarding helping the needy, basic views on the environment, and diplomacy rather than military strength to ensure peace.
• People who regularly attend worship services and hold traditional religious views are more likely to hold conservative political views.
• Those who are less connected to religious institutions are more likely to hold liberal political views.
  
  

Selected Tables and Graphs

***The following page numbers refer the page number of the PDF document, not the report itself.***

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Resources and Links

• 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey Website
  
  
• 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey - Report 2: Religious Beliefs & Practices / Social & Political Views
  Full report in PDF format

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