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The religious states of the union

22 Apr 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday's reading from the Acts of Apostles, Saint Peter tells his audience they still have a chance to have faith in Jesus even though they had rejected him during his earthly life. A recent Gallup Poll measured the faith of Americans in a state-by-state survey, finding that many of the "most religious" states are in the so-called "Bible Belt" of the Deep South, but heavily Mormon Utah also ranked highly. New England and the West tended to be the least religious.Mississippi has the most religious Americans by percentage of population, while Vermont has the fewest. Fifty-nine percent of Mississippi residents were considered "very religious," with almost 90 percent of the state saying religion is an important part of their daily life. Only 23 percent of Vermonters are “very religious," and more than half—58 percent—were considered nonreligious. Many of the "most religious" states come from the South, including Alabama (56 percent); Louisiana (54 percent); Arkansas (54 percent); and South Carolina (54 percent). All six New England states scored in the bottom 10, including New Hampshire (23 percent); Maine (25 percent); Massachusetts (28 percent); Alaska (28 percent); Oregon, Nevada, and Washington (all 30 percent); Connecticut (31 percent); and Washington, D.C., New York, and Rhode Island (all 32 percent). Utah, however, ranked second overall in religiousness, at 57 percent. In general, more than two-thirds (68.4 percent) of Americans were classified as very or moderately religious, but the differences in religiosity varied across the nation. Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport said he believed the findings reflect the "culture in the states." For example, Mississippi has the country's highest percentage of African Americans, who are known for being the most religious group. "Most people say that's the reason why the state is the highest," Newport said, "but even people in Mississippi with no religious identity are more religious than people in Vermont who are religious." Source: An article by Adele M. Banks for Religion News Service

states united states gallup poll frank newport religiousness
Americans losing faith in organized religion

22 Jul 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The people of Jesus' time had such confidence in him that they “hastened … from all the towns” to get to his next destination ahead of him, we hear in this Sunday’s gospel. American’s confidence in the church or organized religion, on the other hand, continues a steady decline that started in the 1970s. And Catholics’ confidence is significantly lower than Protestants’, an updated Gallup poll revealed.Only 44 percent of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in "the church or organized religion" today. By contrast, in 1973, "the church or organized religion" was the most highly rated institution in Gallup's “confidence in institutions” measure, and it continued to rank first in most years through 1985.That began to change in the mid-to-late 1980s as confidence in organized religion first fell below 60 percent. Currently, 56 percent of Protestants express a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the church/organized religion, compared with 46 percent of Catholics. That is in line with an average 12-percentage-point difference in the two groups' confidence, according to Gallup polling from 2002 through 2012, with Protestants consistently expressing higher confidence.There are too few respondents of other specific religions to analyze separately; confidence among all other Americans combined, however, is only 29 percent, far less than either Protestants' or Catholics' confidence, Gallup reported. Sources: Articles by Lydia Saad for Gallup and Allison J. Althoff for Christianity Today

church catholics americans gallup poll institutional religion organized religion confidence
The workaday blues

18 Aug 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Before his work is complete, Jesus informs his disciples in this Sunday's gospel, "there is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!" According to a recent Gallup poll, nearly 70 percent of Americans view a day of accomplishing work at the office with negative emotions ranging from disinterest to downright anguish. Not even alluring workplace perks like nap rooms, free lunches, and massages will make an unhappy worker happy.The findings of Gallup's 2013 State of the American Workplace were grim: At best 30 percent of the 150,000 full and part-time workers surveyed honestly enjoyed their jobs and their bosses. A full 20 percent of respondents are what Gallup classifies as "actively disengaged," the ones who are muttering complaints at the watercooler and using their lunch breaks to scour job postings online.The remaining 50 percent of U.S. workers are "disengaged," according to the survey, meaning that while they show up for work, they are not "inspired by their managers." But perhaps the most startling thing that Gallup found is that those allowed to work remotely were more engaged.Jim Clifton, Gallup's chairman and CEO, said in a statement that poor management was one of the leading causes for employee disengagement. Many surveyed complained of "bosses from hell" who ignored talent and didn't cultivate growth.But the implications of the report go much deeper. It states that the dissatisfaction, anger, and boredom felt by workers hurts the economy, which has been feeble since the tecession of 2008. It also costs the U.S. an estimated $450 billion to $550 billion per annum of lost productivity, stolen goods, and missed days of work.Homily hint: “Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation,” write the U.S. Catholic Bishops in their statement, The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers, which summarizes Catholic social teaching on work. Share some of its perspectives with your faith community, perhaps it will help those who feel alienated from their jobs to find new meaning in their work. Source: An article by Beth Stebner for the New York Daily News

work jobs workplace gallup poll american workers state of the american workplace jim clifton
Tough year for clergy’s tarnished reputation

29 Dec 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The magi came from the east to the newborn Jesus, the Epiphany Sunday gospel relates, because they “saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” A generation ago Americans paid homage in very high numbers to the honesty and ethics of members of the clergy, Gallup polls dating back to 1977 indicate. The clerical star has fallen in recent years, however, and this year for the first time since Gallup began asking the question, fewer than half of those polled said clergy have “high” or “very high” moral standards. Overall, 47 percent of respondents to the survey gave clergy “high” or “very high” ratings, a sharp drop in confidence from the 67 percent of Americans who viewed them this way in 1985. This year clergy took a back seat to nurses, pharmacists, schoolteachers, medical doctors, members of the military, and police officers. The overall trend for clergy has sloped downward since 2001, with Gallup pollsters attributing the slide to scandals involving the sexual abuse of minors. “The Catholic priest abuse stories from the early 2000s helped lead to a sharp drop in Americans’ ratings of clergy, a decline from which the profession has yet to fully recover,” Gallup Managing Editor Art Swift wrote about the poll. Rev. J. C. Austin of Auburn Theological Seminary, however, suggests another reason that the clergy’s reputation has suffered. Too often, he said, divisive clergy overshadow those working toward the common good, especially when it comes to “hot button” issues like gay marriage and abortion. Nurses are the most trusted profession and have been nearly every year since Gallup added them to the poll in 1999, with 82 percent of people saying they rank highly or very highly on the ethical spectrum. Clergy came in seventh of the 22 professions ranked this year. Homily hint: No one has to tell a preacher that being a member of the clergy is a tough job. Talking with the faith community about what it feels like to be on the other side of the pulpit would make for an engaging sermon and might go a long way toward building a supportive familial bond in the faith community. Source: An article by Lauren Markoe for Religion News Service

Trust professions catholic priests gallup poll clergy Honesty ethical standards
Tough year for clergy’s tarnished reputation

05 Jan 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The magi came from the east to the newborn Jesus, the Epiphany Sunday gospel relates, because they “saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.” A generation ago Americans paid homage in very high numbers to the honesty and ethics of members of the clergy, Gallup polls dating back to 1977 indicate. The clerical star has fallen in recent years, however, and this year for the first time since Gallup began asking the question, fewer than half of those polled said clergy have “high” or “very high” moral standards.Overall, 47 percent of respondents to the survey gave clergy “high” or “very high” ratings, a sharp drop in confidence from the 67 percent of Americans who viewed them this way in 1985.This year clergy took a back seat to nurses, pharmacists, schoolteachers, medical doctors, members of the military, and police officers. The overall trend for clergy has sloped downward since 2001, with Gallup pollsters attributing the slide to scandals involving the sexual abuse of minors.“The Catholic priest abuse stories from the early 2000s helped lead to a sharp drop in Americans’ ratings of clergy, a decline from which the profession has yet to fully recover,” Gallup Managing Editor Art Swift wrote about the poll.Rev. J. C. Austin of Auburn Theological Seminary, however, suggests another reason that the clergy’s reputation has suffered. Too often, he said, divisive clergy overshadow those working toward the common good, especially when it comes to “hot button” issues like gay marriage and abortion.Nurses are the most trusted profession and have been nearly every year since Gallup added them to the poll in 1999, with 82 percent of people saying they rank highly or very highly on the ethical spectrum. Clergy came in seventh of the 22 professions ranked this year.Homily hint: No one has to tell a preacher that being a member of the clergy is a tough job. Talking with the faith community about what it feels like to be on the other side of the pulpit would make for an engaging sermon and might go a long way toward building a supportive familial bond in the faith community. Source: An article by Lauren Markoe for Religion News Service

Trust art swift j c austin professions catholic priests gallup poll priests clergy Honesty ethical standards
Survey reveals religious state of the states

09 Feb 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Saint Paul told the Corinthians that he came to them with “a demonstration of Spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” The faith of Americans in response to God’s power has again been documented by the Gallup organization in its annual ranking of the most and least religious states.Once again Mississippi headed the list as the most religious U.S. state, with 61 percent of its residents classified as "very religious," according to the results of the survey released Monday. By contrast only 22 percent of people in Vermont ranked just as devout, and that state held onto its title as "least religious."Overall about 41 percent of Americans indicated they are "very religious," meaning that religion is an important part of their daily lives and that they attend religious services every week or almost every week. Some 29 percent were classified as nonreligious because they did not attend services and didn't cite religion as an important part of their daily life. Another 29 percent fell somewhere in the middle of the two extremes and were labeled as "moderately religious."For the most part the rankings have remained largely unchanged since Gallup first started tracking religiosity in 2008. The most religious states still tend to be clustered in the South, though Utah—with its large population of Mormons, typically the most religious of any denomination—stands out as an exception and ranks No. 2 in religiosity. Meanwhile, the least religious states are mostly found in New England, the Pacific Northwest. and other states in the West.Gallup officials said cultural differences and the geographic spread of different religions could explain the state-level variations in religiousness the poll revealed. Protestants, for examples, have "above-average religiousness," according to Gallup, and Southern states have a higher percentage of Protestants than the rest of the nation. In contrast, states in New England have a higher percentage of those with no religious identity at all.See Gallup’s report and interactive map.Homily hint: No matter where you state falls on the scale, “religiousness” begins with each person’s own active faith, lived in community and shared with others. Cultivate and recommit to your own faith and your witness will shine like a light to the rest of the world. Source: An article by Megan Gannon for Live Science

states united states gallup poll religiousness religiosity