Mary Elise Cosgray
Mary Elise Cosgray is a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation . http://www.heritage.org/.
PA Pundits – International
Nearly 70 per cent of registered voters believe that Jesus Christ physically rose from the dead, and more than 70 per cent plan to celebrate Easter this year, a new poll finds.
A Scott Rasmussen National Survey poll, conducted March 20 and 21 among 1,000 registered voters, found that 73 per cent of respondents will celebrate Easter this year. When asked whether they would celebrate the holiday primarily as a religious holiday or as a secular holiday, 56 per cent of participants responded with religious, 16 per cent said secular, and 27 per cent said both secular and religious equally.
The poll reflected voters’ belief that Jesus physically rose from the dead, by a margin of 68 per cent to 13 per cent.
Participants were asked to select which religion or faith best described what they practice. The survey found that Bible-believing Christian, Protestant, and Catholic each drew 21 per cent of those polled. Evangelical Christian was chosen by 12 per cent. Jewish identity made up two per cent of the poll participants, with one per cent Muslim and six per cent atheist. The option “none of the above” was selected by 16 per cent.
Some 49 per cent said they were “very likely” to go to church on Easter Sunday, and 23 per cent were somewhat likely, while 10 per cent said they were not very likely, and 16 per cent said they were not likely at all to do so.
Respondents were also asked how often they attend church, synagogue, or other religious services. Some 49 per cent of participants said they rarely or never attend a religious service, while 23 per cent said they go once a week, 12 per cent said they go a couple of times a month, and six per cent said once a month. About nine per cent of voters said they attend some form of religious services more than once a week.
Those polled were also asked about their prayer habits; specifically, how often they pray in a week. Some 45 per cent of participants answered every day or nearly every day, and 21 per cent said they pray several times a week, while 18 per cent said they rarely or never do, seven per cent said about once a week, and six per cent said less than once a week.
Again, regarding the upcoming Christian holiday, voters were asked whether they view Easter as one of our nation’s most important holidays, least important holiday, or somewhere in between. The latter view received 48 per cent support, while 33 per cent of voters said Easter is the nation’s most important holiday, and 15 per cent of voters said Easter is the least important.
Respondents were asked whether a series of statements were true or false. They were asked to evaluate whether “the man known to history as Jesus Christ actually existed and walked the earth,” or not.
By a margin of 83 per cent to five per cent, voters said they believe that Jesus Christ did in fact exist and walked the earth.
The margin of error for the survey was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, according to Rasmussen.
Read more informative articles at The Daily Signal http://dailysignal.com/.
Reprinted from PA Pundits – International