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(New York City) Religious devotion sets the United States apart from
some of its closest allies. Americans profess unquestioning belief in God and
are far more willing to mix faith and politics than people in other countries,
AP-Ipsos polling found.
In Western Europe, where Pope Benedict XVI complains that growing secularism has
left churches unfilled on Sundays, people are the least devout among the 10
countries surveyed for The Associated Press by Ipsos.
Only Mexicans come close to Americans in embracing
faith, the poll found. But unlike Americans, Mexicans strongly object to clergy
lobbying lawmakers, in line with the nation's historical opposition to church
influence.
"In the United States, you have an abundance of religions trying to
motivate Americans to greater involvement,'' said Roger Finke, a sociologist at
Penn State University. "It's one thing that makes a tremendous difference
here.''
The polling was conducted in May in the United States, Australia, Britain,
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, South Korea and Spain.
Nearly all U.S. respondents said faith is important to them and only 2 percent
said they do not believe in God. Almost 40 percent said religious leaders should
try to sway policymakers, notably higher than in other countries.
"Our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian policies and religious leaders
have an obligation to speak out on public policy, otherwise they're wimps,''
said David Black, a retiree from Osborne, Pa., who agreed to be interviewed
after he was polled.
In contrast, 85 percent of French object to clergy activism — the strongest
opposition of any nation surveyed. France has strict curbs on public religious
expression and, according to the poll, 19 percent are atheists. South Korea is
the only other nation with that high a percentage of nonbelievers.
Australians are generally split over the importance of faith, while two-thirds
of South Koreans and Canadians said religion is central to their lives. People
in all three countries strongly oppose mixing religion and politics.
Researchers disagree over why people in the United States have such a different
religious outlook, said Brent Nelsen, an expert in politics and religion at
Furman University in South Carolina.
Some say rejecting religion is a natural response to modernization and consider
the United States a strange exception to the trend. Others say Europe is the
anomaly; people in modernized countries inevitably return to religion because
they yearn for tradition, according to the theory.
Some analysts, like Finke, use a business model. According to his theory, a long
history of religious freedom in the United States created a greater supply of
worship options than in other countries, and that proliferation inspired wider
observance. Some European countries still subsidize churches, in effect
regulating or limiting religious options, Finke said.
History also could be a factor.
Many countries other than the United States have been through bloody religious
conflict that contributes to their suspicion of giving clergy any say in policy.
A variety of factors contribute to the sentiment about separating religion and
politics.
"In Germany, they have a Christian Democratic Party, and they talk about
Christian values, but they don't talk about them in quite the same way that we
do,'' Nelsen said. "For them, the Christian part of the Christian values
are held privately and it's not that acceptable to bring those out into the
open.''
In Spain, where the government subsidizes the Catholic Church, and in Germany,
which is split between Catholics and Protestants, people are about evenly
divided over whether they consider faith important. The results are almost
identical in Britain, whose state church, the Church of England, is struggling
to fill pews.
Italians are the only European exception in the poll. Eighty percent said
religion is significant to them and just over half said they unquestioningly
believe in God.
But even in Italy, home to the Catholic Church, resistance to religious
engagement in politics is evident. Only three in 10 think the clergy should try
to influence government decisions; a lower percentage in Spain, Germany and
England said the same.
Within the United States, some of the most pressing policy issues involve
complex moral questions — such as gay marriage, abortion and stem cell
research — that understandably draw religious leaders into public debate, said
John Green, an expert on religion and politics at the University of Akron.
The poll found Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to think clergy
should try to influence government decisions — a sign of the challenges ahead
for Democrats as they attempt to reach out to more religious voters.
"Rightly or wrongly, Republicans tend to perceive religion as,
quote-unquote, ‘on their side,''' Green said.
The survey did find trends in belief that transcend national boundaries. Women
tend to be more devout than men, and older people have stronger faith than
younger people.
The Associated Press-Ipsos polls of about 1,000 adults in each of the 10
countries were taken May 12-26. Each has a margin of sampling error of plus or
minus 3 percentage points.
©Associated Press 2005
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