But while Texans aren't really very interested in politics yet this year, I found a few questions at the end of the survey fairly interesting. These questions were about religion. I found them interesting because it showed that Texas may not be quite as fundamentalist as many of us think. Among the most enlightening revelations are that less than half of Texans consider themselves "born again" or "evangelical", and only about a third believe the Bible should be taken literally, word-for-word. Here is what the survey showed:
DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A "BORN AGAIN" OR "EVANGELICAL" CHRISTIAN?
yes...............48%
no...............52%
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE BIBLE?
Word of god & should be taken literally, word for word...............34%
Word of god, but should not be taken literally...............43%
Written by men & not the word of god...............23%
HOW IMPORTANT ARE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS TO YOUR DAILY LIFE?
extremely important...............49%
somewhat important...............27%
not very important...............12%
not at all important...............12%
OTHER THAN WEDDINGS & FUNERALS, HOW OFTEN DO YOU ATTEND RELIGIOUS SERVICES?
more than once a week...............17%
once a week...............16%
few times a month...............11%
once or twice a year...............27%
never...............29%
WHAT IS YOUR RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION?
Baptist...............20%
Catholic...............16%
Non-denominational christian...............9%
Spiritual, but not religious...............9%
Atheist/Agnostic...............9%
Methodist...............5%
Church of Christ...............4%
Christian Scientist...............4%
Protestant (non-specific)...............4%
Assembly of God...............2%
Episcopal/Anglican...............2%
Lutheran...............2%
Pentecostal...............2%
Presbyterian...............2%
Buddhist...............1%
Church of God...............1%
Disciples of Christ...............1%
Jewish...............1%
Mormon...............1%
Other...............7%
Don't Know...............2%
What do you think? Does that fit the picture of religion in Texas that you had?
sorta..I think there is a lot of publized crap from wackos that gets most of the attention.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite statistic is the 2% who answered "Don't Know" for their religious affiliation.
ReplyDeleteHow do you answer "Don't Know" when the possibilities include non-demoninational christian; spiritual, but not religious; atheist/agnostic; a whole boatload of denominations and non-christian religions; and the catch-all "other"?
"I go to this church, but I've never looked at the sign outside, so I don't know what my religious affiliation is"?
I noticed there's no statistic for Hindus or Muslims, but I guess they'd fall under "Other".
Which reminds me of when I was in Army basic training (this is a true story!). They herded us all over to the chapel to fill out cards for our dog tags.
The drill sergeant said, "Where it says 'Name,' you will write your name: Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial."
"Where it says 'Social Security Number,' you will write your Social Security Number." No concerns about identity theft back in 1972.
"Where it says, 'Blood type,' you will write your blood type." I think they must have already tested us for that.
"Where it says 'Religion': IF you are Protestant, you will write 'Protestant'. IF you are Catholic, you will write 'Catholic.' IF you are anything else, you will write 'Protestant.'"
You should have seen the look on the faces of Privates Poonai and Kahn, who were Hindu and Muslim, respectively.