The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life just released the second installment of the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey.
There is a lot of information here that I will be digesting over the coming weeks. The first question that caught my eye was this: Do Arizonans believe in God?
The first thing that we must consider, in looking at this data, is the character of the question itself. I believe that the question used in this survey is very telling of our nation's position on religious beliefs and practices.
Here is the question that was asked of Arizona residents pertaining to their belief in God:
Question wording: Do you believe in God or a universal spirit? [IF YES, ASK:] How certain are you about this belief? Are you absolutely certain, fairly certain, not too certain, or not at all certain?
Isn't it interesting the way in which they worded the question? Is belief in God and a "universal spirit" reckoned to be the same thing? Does this question not lump a Christian and a Buddhist (who have completely differing views on God) in the same camp? Is this question, the way it was worded, even relevant?
Nonetheless, here are the responses of 578 residents of Arizona:
- Believes in God - absolutely certain
- Arizona - 69%
- National - 71%
- Believes in God - fairly certain
- Arizona - 19%
- National - 17%
- Believes in God - not too certain/not at all certain/unsure how certain
- Arizona - 3%
- National - 4%
- Does not believe in God
- Arizona - 6%
- National - 5%
- Don't know/refused/other
- Arizona - 4%
- National - 3%
I suppose a Christian could look at this data and conclude that most Arizona residents believe in God and walk away feeling fairly good about the number. However, it is critical that we understand that this sample only includes 578 people out of six million. Further confusing the issue is simply the way the question was worded. For the Christian, God is a real person not a "universal spirit".
Therefore this response, for the Arizona Christian community, contains very little relevant information for us.
Stay tuned for more analysis of this report as it pertains to faith in Arizona.