Poll: 43% of Americans neutral or anti-Nat'l Day of Prayer

The use of a somewhat vague question in USA Today/Gallup’s recent poll on Americans’ religious beliefs provides greater insights than pollsters expected.

From May 1-2, USA Today/Gallup polled 1,000 Americans and asked about their religious beliefs. 92% are certain that a god exists, and 83% are convinced that this figment of their imaginations grants wishes, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Wait, what? The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey told us that 15% of Americans have no religious belief!

No, not really. Many people misunderstood the ARIS results, and run about claiming that 15% of Americans are atheist. In fact, atheists (that is, those who do not believe in the existence of any gods) and agnostics (those who believe we cannot ‘know’ god) combined account for less than 2% of the American population. The “nones” are people who don’t identify with a particular religion . . . they are not (necessarily) atheists.

Now comes the more interesting part. Before we look at the whole picture, let’s check out the Christian spin:

Fifty-seven percent said they favor holding a National Day of Prayer, 38 percent said it did not matter to them, 5 percent said they opposed it, and 1 percent said they had no opinion.

True. But only part of the story:

For most 18- to 29-year-olds, it could be the National Day of Whatever — 59% said it doesn’t matter.

Those who most strongly favor it were Republicans (76%); women 50 and older (71%); and Midwesterners (71%) or Southerners (63%).

Younger Americans? Not into it. Urban people? Not into it. Nearly 1 in 4 Republicans, for that matter? Not into it.

The survey respondents were divided into two groups at random. 500 were asked whether they support the National Day of Prayer, and the other 500 were asked a different question:

Thousands of events nationwide are being organized Thursday by the National Day of Prayer Task Force, a private conservative evangelical group that says one of its primary goals is to “publicize and promote Christian prayer.”

Among 500 respondents asked if this should be “a major goal” of the National Day of Prayer, 62% said it should and 36% said it should not. People of all ages and regions held roughly similar views.

The group mentioned by the Christian press was asked this vague question:

As you may know, in 1952 Congress designated a National Day of Prayer, which will be held May 6 this year. Do you favor or oppose having a National Day of Prayer, or doesn’t it matter to you either way?

Wait a minute! That’s a very specific question! It’s asking if they favor or oppose having a National Day of Prayer.

Indeed it is. However, the National Day of Prayer was not ruled unConstitutional. Government sponsorship and promotion of it was.

The question asked plays directly into the Christian Right’s hands. They have spent the last weeks crying that “activist judges” are trying to “outlaw prayer”. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, has taken the lead in fear-mongering and outright lying to whip the Right into a prayer-fueled “Us vs. Them” frenzy:

I think its coming to this country where we (will) have the freedom to preach inside a church wall, but we will lose the freedom to do it outside. That day will probably come – maybe in my lifetime.

…

The secularists are going to get ticked off, the news media’s going to hate it. I don’t know, maybe the people in the White House are going to be mad. But you know what, I don’t care. Because God has called us to take the Gospel — His Gospel, the power of God and His Salvation — unto the ends of the Earth.

James Dobson, of anti-gay Focus on the Family fame, chimed in with a paranoid tirade:

I am convinced that there are people in high places, people with a great deal of authority and influence, who want to eliminate every vestige of religion — especially Christian religion, or evangelical religion – from the public square. They want to expunge it. They want to get rid of it. They want to take away our right to worship and to have a prayer service in a government building. That’s not unconstitutional!

Sorry, James. You do NOT have a right to worship and have a prayer service in a government building (unless you’re renting the space, just like any other group). Dobson knows that if you tell the same lie often enough, it becomes the truth.

The poll question doesn’t ask the question many secularists would rather see answered, “Do you oppose government sponsorship of the Christian Evangelical National Day of Prayer event?” It just asked whether respondents opposed the event’s existence.

5% of Americans oppose the very existence of a National Day of Prayer, no matter who is sponsoring it, and 38% don’t care whether it exists or not. That’s 43%! (Yes, I can add!)

But wait . . . Fewer than 2% of Americans identify as atheist or agnostic, and the ARIS report says that 76% of Americans are Christian!

Yes indeed! And in a country of over 300 million people, that means that a whole lot of Christians would like to eliminate or ignore the National Day of Prayer. Some believe that, as Jesus himself commands:

Matthew 6

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

I imagine there are many others who simple feel faith is a private matter and doesn’t belong in our government institutions. Secular-minded people are not all atheists. In fact, they’re not even mostly atheists.

Secularists do not generally want to “outlaw” religion. We don’t want to “ban” the National Day of Prayer, or prayer in general. Justice Crabb’s ruling, for that matter, does none of these things.

Secularists want separation of government and religion. We don’t want the President of the United States delivering a proclamation demanding all citizens pray to his imaginary friend for protection . . . a proclamation drafted for him by Shirley Dobson. Yes, James Dobson’s wife.

Now, therefore, I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 6, 2010, as a National Day of Prayer. I call upon the citizens of our Nation to pray, or otherwise give thanks, in accordance with their own faiths and consciences, for our many freedoms and blessings, and I invite all people of faith to join me in asking for God’s continued guidance, grace, and protection as we meet the challenges before us.

How do you think a poll asking the revised question would come out?

Related articles:

1. Americans United Urges Appeals Court to Strike Down the National Day of Prayer
2. Americans United Criticizes Appeals Court Ruling Dismissing Challenge To National Day Of Prayer
3. Congressional Prayer Caucus Off Base With Attack On Obama, Says Americans United
4. Americans United protests sectarian prayer at Minnesota Senate
5. American Humanist Association files Amicus Brief Challenging National Day of Prayer

Jenny Donati is webmistress and co-editor of Secular News Daily. Jenny is an outspoken secularist who believes firmly in the separation of church and state. She demands evidence to support arguments, and holds herself to the same standard. She doesn't write about herself in the third person . . . but there's a first time for everything.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry.