A new study released Thursday about U.S. religious beliefs found two in three Americans (67 percent) are "absolutely sure" heaven exists, and another 17 percent said it "probably" does.
A great majority (73 percent) also believe hell absolutely or probably exists.
About 55 percent of all adults -- including one in five of those who say they have no religion -- believe they have been protected from harm by a guardian angel.
The findings are part of the survey results and book ("What Americans Believe") unveiled Thursday by researchers from Baylor University during the annual meeting of the Religion Newswriters Association in Washington, D.C., where I'm camped out this week.
Other interesting tidbits from the survey:
--During the past 63 years, several polls show the percentage of atheists has not changed at all -- only 4 percent of Americans say they do not believe in God. Atheism is not growing in the United States.
-- Eleven percent of the national survey sample reported they had "no religion." Two-thirds of the "no religion" group expressed some belief in God and many of those are not "irreligious" but are merely "unchurched."
-- The growth of megachurches (i.e., congregations of more than 1,000 members) is mostly due to their membership, who tend to witness to their friends, bringing them into the group and witness to strangers, much more often than members of small churches (those with fewer than 100 members).
-- Forty-five percent of Americans report having at least two religious encounters. Conservative Protestants are more likely than liberal Protestants, Catholics or Jews to report religious or mystical experiences; however, these experiences occur with considerable frequency in nearly all religious groups. The survey showed that women, African Americans and Republicans are more apt to have religious and mystical experiences.
-- Conservative religious Americans are far less likely to believe in the occult and paranormal than are other Americans, with self-identified theological liberals and the irreligious far more likely than other Americans to believe. Researchers say this shows that it is not religion in general that suppresses such beliefs, but conservative religion.
Survey details: The Baylor study interviews were conducted in fall 2007. Nearly 1,700 adults responded and the margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Leave a comment