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SPECIAL REPORT:
Exploring Religious America
April 26, 2002 Episode no. 534
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COMPARISON WITH OTHER RECENT RELIGION SURVEYS
For the most part, the RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY/U.S.
NEWS & WORLD REPORT Religion Survey shows religious activity similar to
the Pew surveys about religion in March 2002 and March 2001. People's participation
in several areas continues to be about the same this year as it was a year
ago. The importance of religion to Americans has not changed much in the last
year, which is consistent with the 4 in 5 who said religion is as important
now as it was before 9/11. Nor has people's attendance at religious services
or their participation in activities of their church or house of worship,
or their attendance at prayer group meetings or at Bible or Scripture study
groups, changed in the last year. Most people continue to think that all religions
have elements of truth.
Twice as many people as in the RELIGION & ETHICS/U.S.
NEWS poll told pollsters for Frank Luntz in October of last year, three weeks
after the terrorist attacks, that those attacks had strengthened their faith
in God. Whether the Luntz finding was a more immediate reaction to the attacks
or reflects a difference in polling methods is not clear. Both the Pew and
ABC polls show similar results to the RELIGION & ETHICS/U.S. NEWS poll
in other areas related to 9/11. For example, all three polls show similar
results for people's general impression of Islam. RELIGION & ETHICS/U.S.
NEWS and Pew show people about evenly divided between a favorable and an unfavorable
impression of Islam. The ABC poll earlier this year was slightly more favorable
to Islam. The ABC poll showed the same reaction by the public as RELIGION
& ETHICS/U.S. NEWS to the number of extremists within Islam. People were
about as likely to say Islam had the same number of extremists as to say there
were more extremists. Almost no one said there were fewer.
Comparisons with polls of religious beliefs from 14 years
ago show some changes, but they are not striking and may be due to differences
in the answer categories available to respondents. Most people continue to
think their own personal judgment is more important than family and friends
or religious teachings, including the Bible, when it comes to making decisions
about their lives. These sources of inspiration are still in the same relative
order as they were years ago, according to the General Social Survey from
1988 and the RELIGION & ETHICS/U.S. NEWS polls. The GSS poll provided
a neutral category for people who were undecided between the importance or
unimportance of the various alternatives. The RELIGION & ETHICS/U.S. NEWS
poll did not provide this alternative.
A GSS question on people's experiencing God's presence
shows similar results today and when the question was last asked by GSS in
1998. About half said they had this experience many times. However, when GSS
asked a different version of this question in 1988, two thirds said they never
"were very close to a powerful, spiritual force that seemed to lift you
out of yourself." This striking difference is most likely due to the
differences in the way the questions were phrased.
Note: Due to rounding, figures in a column may not add to 100%.
6. Now I would like to ask you some questions about religion. Please tell me, how important would you say religion is in your life? Is it ...
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Total
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Pew 3/01*
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Pew 3/02*
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very important
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64
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Very 64
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63
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somewhat important
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23
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Fairly 23
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24
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somewhat unimportant
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6
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Not Very 12
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12
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very unimportant
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7
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DK/NA/refused
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-
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1
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1
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*answer categories differ
9. Would you say the terrorist attacks on September 11th ...
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Total
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Luntz 10/01*
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... have shaken your faith in God
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3
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Weakened
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2
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... have strengthened your faith in God
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27
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Strengthened
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54
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... did not affect your faith in God
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69
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No effect
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47
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DK/NA/refused
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2
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Don't believe
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2
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*Luntz question: Is your belief in God strengthened or weakened by the events on September 11?
10. In general, how often would you say you have experienced God's presence or a spiritual force that felt very close to you?
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Total
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GSS '88*
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GSS '98**
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never
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14
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67
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Never 12
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once or twice
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16
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18
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Once while 16
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several times
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21
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8
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Some days 13
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many times
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46
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5
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Most, daily, many days 54
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DK/NA/refused
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2
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2
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3
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* How often: Felt as though you were very close to a powerful spiritual force that seemed to lift you out of yourself?
** To what extent can you say you experience the following ... I feel God's presence?
17. Now I'm going to read you some groups of statements. As I read each group, tell me which statement comes closer to your own views, even if neither is exactly right.
17.1
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Total
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Pew 3/02*
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The religion you practice is the only true religion.
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17
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18
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All religions have elements of truth.
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78
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75
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DK/NA/refused
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5
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7
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*Pew: My religion is the one true faith leading to eternal life/Many religions can lead to eternal life/neither-DK/refused
18. Please tell me, how important is each of the following in helping you make decisions about your life ... VERY IMPORTANT, SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT, SOMEWHAT UNIMPORTANT, or VERY UNIMPORTANT?
18.1 Your own personal judgment
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Total
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GSS '88*
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very important
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77
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Very 71
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somewhat important
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18
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2 17
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somewhat unimportant
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3
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3 8
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very unimportant
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1
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4 2
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Not Very 2
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DK/NA/refused
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1
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1
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* answer categories differ
18.2 Your family and friends
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Total
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GSS '88*
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very important
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64
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Very 48
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somewhat important
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29
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2 26
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somewhat unimportant
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4
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3 15
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very unimportant
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2
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4 5
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Not Very 5
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DK/NA/refused
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1
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1
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* answer categories differ
18.3 The teachings of your church or synagogue
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Total
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GSS '88*
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very important
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51
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Very 29
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somewhat important
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29
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2 20
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somewhat unimportant
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8
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3 24
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very unimportant
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9
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4 11
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Not Very 5
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DK/NA/refused
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3
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1
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* answer categories differ
18.4 The Bible
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Total
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GSS '88*
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very important
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60
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Very 34
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somewhat important
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23
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2 14
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somewhat unimportant
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8
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3 22
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very unimportant
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7
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4 12
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2
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Not Very 18
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DK/NA/refused
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1
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* answer categories differ
20. Aside from weddings and funerals, how often do you attend religious services?
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Total
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Pew 3/01
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Pew 3/02
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more than once a week
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20
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17
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15
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once a week
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27
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26
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25
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once or twice a month
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15
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17
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17
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a few times a year
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18
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17
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18
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seldom or never
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20
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22
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24
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DK/NA/refused
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1
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1
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1
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Q. 21-23 ASKED IF "A FEW TIMES A YEAR" OR MORE ANSWER ABOUT ATTENDING RELIGIOUS SERVICES:
21. Aside from attending religious services, how involved are you in activities at your church or house of worship? Would you say you are ...
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Total
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Pew 3/01
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Pew 3/02
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very involved
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25
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23
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22
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somewhat involved
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36
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31
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31
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somewhat uninvolved*
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20
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26
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28
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very uninvolved*
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19
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20
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19
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DK/NA/refused
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1
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-
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-
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* Pew choices were: not too involved and not at all involved.
22. How often do you attend prayer group meetings or Bible or Scripture study groups?
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Total
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Pew 3/01
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frequently
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27
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18
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sometimes
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22
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20
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hardly ever
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22
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15
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never
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28
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46
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DK/NA/refused
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1
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1
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Note: The difference between these surveys is that those who seldom or never
attend religious service were not asked about attendance in the RELIGION & ETHICS
survey. They were included in the Pew survey.
25. Would you describe your general impression of Islam as ...
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Total
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Pew 3/02*
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ABC 1/02*
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very favorable
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6
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somewhat favorable
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30 36
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38
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41
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somewhat unfavorable
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24 37
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33
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24
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very unfavorable
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13
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DK/NA/refused
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26
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29
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35
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*answer categories: favorable, unfavorable
26. Compared to other religions, do you think there are A LARGER NUMBER of violent extremists within Islam, A SMALLER NUMBER, or ABOUT THE SAME NUMBER as in other religions?
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Total
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ABC 1/02*
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larger
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39
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More 38
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smaller
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4
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Fewer 5
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about the same
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40
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Same 41
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DK/NA/refused
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17
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17
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*Compared to other religions, do you think there are more violent extremists within Islam, fewer, or about the same number as in other religions?
Go to the beginning of the Poll Results
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