Survey shows evangelicals undercounted

National Catholic Reporter, Sept 22, 2006 by Adelle M. Banks

For years, researchers have thought the number of people unaffiliated with religion has been on the rise. But new research from Baylor University says some people who were thought to be disconnected are actually in the pews --they're just not linked to a particular denomination.

Rather than the previously reported 14 percent of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated, the Baylor findings show that a more accurate figure is 10.8 percent. That translates into about 10 million more people thought to be connected to some kind of faith.

"Widespread speculation of this increased percentage of our population that is outside of organized religion really isn't true," said Kevin Dougherty, a member of the team of researchers that released the first findings of the Baylor Religion Survey Sept. 11.

He and other scholars have found that many of the people thought to be unaffiliated with religion--the so-called "nones"--can, in fact, name a congregation to which they belong. And in many cases, they're worshiping at non-denominational evangelical churches.

"Two-thirds of Americans--68 percent--can give us the name of a congregation, whereas only about half of Americans can give you the name of a denomination," Dougherty said.

The findings are based on data collected by the Gallup Organization in late 2005 and analyzed by the Waco, Texas-based researchers.

Researchers at the Baptist university found that evangelicals comprise 33.6 percent, or one third, of the nation's population. However, only 15 percent identify themselves as "evangelical"; almost half of Americans--47 percent--prefer to call themselves "Bible-believing." Just over 21 percent consider themselves Catholic.

On the matter of war, scholars found a dramatic reversal of opinion about the Iraq war compared to views of war in general. Respondents who had attended church weekly, interpreted the Bible literally and were evangelical Protestants were more likely than others to say, "War is always wrong."

But people with those same characteristics were also more likely to say the Iraq war was justified, demonstrating a high level of trust in President Bush.

"You have a population who is really against war in the abstract, much more so than everyone else, but is more willing to justify the Iraq war because of this trust in a certain leader," said Paul Froese, another member of the research team. "There could potentially be a religious backlash against a war under a different circumstance."

The scholars found that fear of an angry God is not what draws people into the pews each weekend.

"People aren't scared into church," said Christopher Bader. "They go to church because they believe there's a God waiting for them there who is engaged with the world."

The results of the project, which was funded by the John M. Templeton Foundation, are based on 1,721 surveys taken by telephone or returned in the mail and have a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

What we read and watch

The Baylor University study delved into how faith relates to the kinds of books and movies people read and watch, and interest in the paranormal. Among their other findings:

* 28.5 percent of Americans have read The Da Vinci Code, compared to 19 percent who have read a book in the Left Behind series, 19 percent who have read The Purpose Driven Life, and 1.2 percent who have read God's Politics by progressive activist the Rev. Jim Wallis.

* 57 percent of Americans have viewed "Touched by an Angel," compared to 44.3 percent who watched "The Passion of the Christ" and 6.7 percent who have seen "This Is Your Day!" with charismatic evangelist Benny Hinn.

* 43 percent said they'd had a dream that later came true; 28 percent had consulted a horoscope; 21.5 percent spent time in a place they believed to be haunted; and 12.5 percent had consulted a medium, psychic or fortune teller.

--Religion News Service