Pew Survey Compares Religious Beliefs and Practices in the U.S.

According to the most recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, more Jehovah’s Witnesses are absolutely certain that God exists than followers of any other major religion in the U.S. Those of the Jewish and Buddhist faiths are the least certain that God exists, according to the survey.

It’s always interesting to see how different religions in the U.S. stack up to one another, and the Pew religious forum is a great place to look at the information. Respondents who said they believed in God or a universal spirit were asked how certain they were of the existence of such a being. Ninety-three percent of Jehovah’s Witnesses surveyed said they were absolutely certain, while only 39 percent of Buddhists surveyed and 41 percent of Jews surveyed said they were absolutely certain. Ninety percent of those surveyed who belonged to historically black churches, Evangelical churches and the Mormon church were absolutely certain that God exists.

When asked how important religion was in their lives, Jehovah’s Witnesses (86 percent), members of historically black churches (85 percent) and Mormons (83 percent) were the most likely to respond “very important.” Again, only 31 percent of Jews and 35 percent of Buddhists said religion was very important in their lives.

Jehovah’s Witnesses led the way in almost every category, including how often they prayed and how often the received answers to prayers. They were also the only group surveyed with a majority (71 percent) saying they attended religious services more than once a week.

When it came to the literal interpretation of scriptures, more members of historically black churches (62 percent), Evangelicals (59 percent) and Muslims (50%) said they viewed scripture as the word of God, literally true word for word.

Jews, Buddhists and Hindus were far less inclined, at only 5 percent each, to view their religion as the one, true faith that leads to eternal life. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Jehovah’s Witnesses at 80 percent were by far the most inclined to believe so. Mormons came in a distant second in that category at 57 percent.

Source: The Pew Research Center