Atheists for G-d?

The respected Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life has release a new survey of the U.S. religious landscape, (including a summary at that link) based upon a 2007 survey of 35,000 people.


In its article on the new report, Neela Banerjee writes in the New York Times writes that:

"The new report sheds light on the beliefs of the unaffiliated. Like the overwhelming majority of Americans, 70 percent of the unaffiliated said they believed in God, including one of every five people who identified themselves as atheist and more than half of those who identified as agnostic."
(Emphasis added.)
***

"Nearly two-thirds of respondents favored more government help for the poor, even if it meant going deeper into debt. Sixty-one percent of respondents also said “stricter environmental laws and regulations are worth the cost.”

"A majority said the United States should pay more attention to problems at home than those abroad, but in the area of foreign policy, 6 out of 10 respondents said that diplomacy, not military strength, was the best way to ensure peace."



Reuters reports that the number of white evangelicals who identify as Republican has dropped significantly in the past three years, from 62% to 57%, with most of those leaving the Republican ranks moving to the "independent" category. (Fifty percent of evangelicals, without regard to race, identified as Republican or Republican leaning in the most recent survey; 34% identified as Democrats (32% among white evangelicals.))

"In 2004, 62 percent of white evangelical Protestants said they leaned Republican and almost 80 percent of those who voted that year cast their ballots for re-election of President George W. Bush.

"There appears to have been a shift away from the Republican Party even among evangelicals. This trend appears to be concentrated among younger evangelicals," said John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life (and) *** a noted expert on religion and politics who also teaches at the University of Akron in Ohio...."

Detailed portraits and comparisons of the beliefs, demographics and social / political views of American members of various religions, statistical breakdowns according to religious affiliation, detailed, interactive state-by-state maps, and a video overview are available at the Pew Forum site, or by following the embedded links in this article.

Interesting and useful information for those involved in public life.