Where there is unquestioned belief, there is unquestioned behaviour, and where behaviour is not questioned, wickedness prevails.

The Social Psychology of Christianity 2

God is a concept by which we measure our pain.
John Lennon, cited by J Jost

The Baylor Religion Survey 2006
Christianity and Woman
Christianity and Class

Abstract

Christians are happy that 96% of Americans believe in God, and 88% affirm the importance of religion. But when psychologists break down religiosity, the results are not so favorable. Many surveys of different occupations with different methods have shown religious faith is inversely correlated with education, IQ, and liberal attitudes. So, psychology of religion has become a game played by Christian “psychologists” to obscure and muddy what real psychologists are finding. Religiosity is an issue. It does not need an Einstein to think of a measure of religiosity. Attendance at church is obvious for Christians, and only 35% of Americans are religious based on this criterion once a week. People, on this measure, are getting less religious. So, Christians have to have something more all encompassing, and then anyone considered marginally Christian will not be omitted, and negative IQ correlations disappear.

The Baylor Religion Survey 2006

Test yourself with our 60-item Christianity Test. Click the picture

The Baylor Institute of Religion (ISR) states its aim as “to combine the highest standards of scholarship with a serious commitment to faith”, a grand sounding aim, to be sure, but one that is doomed to failure in one or other of its aspects. Which is to yield when scholarship contradicts faith? Past experience suggests it is scholarship, so the organization is simply another grandiose apology for Christianity. In the Templeton-funded Baylor religion survey (available to download in pdf format) reported in September 2006 and conducted in 2005 by Gallup, 1721 respondents answered nearly 400 questions mailed to them, and covering aspects of American religion, spirituality, politics and spending. Since the Templeton foundation is an organization for disbursing money to anyone who can offer novel or substantial defences of some aspect of religion, the combination of the pair of them fills you with suspicion, unless you are a Christian when anything that upholds belief is acceptable, true or not. Still, this work was done by Gallup, so let us look at it. Errors in the data are 4%.

Baylor admits that many Americans do not know what denomination they are in. They just attend a church! The Saddleback Church of Southern California is cited as an example. It is Southern Baptist, but apparently a lot of the congregation there do not know it, and so cannot say in answer to a survey what denomination they are! That sounds pretty ignorant, and suggests a shallow appreciation of their own beliefs. It also makes Americans more religious! Four percent of those who in previous surveys had entered “unaffiliated” were actually members of a denomination, so came back into the Christian fold. It amounts to 10 million people!

A third of Americans (34%), roughly 100 million people, are Evangelical Protestants
The majority (63%) of Americans not affiliated with a religious tradition believe in God or some higher power
More than a quarter have read Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, but likelihood of reading the book decreases with church attendance.

Though a third of US citizens are Evangelical Protestants, their capacity for self-delusion seems to be indicated by the finding that only 2% think it is the best description of them! Indeed, only a third of Evangelical Protestants think that is what they are. More “Mainline” Protestants call themselves “Evangelical” than the Evangelicals. The Evangelicals prefer to think of themselves as “Born Again”, though “Born Yesterday” would be more appropriate. Only 8% thought they were Fundamentalists, and only one percent thought that was the best description of them.

Evangelical Protestants are uniform in being conservative in politics, disagreeing with liberalism. Mainline Protestants and Catholics are diverse in their views. Those who describe themselves as Biblical Literalists, whatever their tradition, are markedly anti-liberal and pro-conservative policies.

An innovation and central to the new survey was to invite answers on believer’s impression of the nature of God—how believers envisioned Him.

Americans may agree that God exists. They do not agree about what God is like, what God wants for the world, or how God feels about politics.
Baylor Religion Survey, 2006

Four possibilities were offered by asking how much believers thought God involved Himself in the world, and how judgemental He was thought to be. God could be high in anger (judgemental), low in anger (benevolent), high in engagement (active), low in engagement (distant).

Authoritarian God—God is involved in their life and world affairs. God helps in decision-making and causes global events such as economic upturns or tsunamis. God is angry and will punish the unfaithful or ungodly.
Benevolent God—God is active in their life but not angry. God is a positive influence and less willing to condemn or punish.
Critical God—God does not interact with the world, but observes it and sees it unfavorably. God�s displeasure will be felt in another life and divine justice is not of this world.
Distant God—God is not active in the world and not angry. God is a cosmic force which set the laws of nature in motion. God does not “do” things in the world and does not hold opinions about our activities or world events.

Americans by the type of God they believe in

These four possible gods correlated well with political outlooks. The data showed:

31% believe in an Authoritarian God—judgemental and engaged
25% believe in a Benevolent God—not judgemental but engaged
16% believe in a Critical God—judgemental but not engaged
23% believe in a Distant God—not judgemental, not engaged
5% are atheists

In slightly more detail, a summary of the results is:

Men preferred the disengaged God (48%), and 8% were atheists, but women went for the active one (64%) and only 3% were atheists
Graduates preferred the disengaged God (47%), and 7% were atheists but uneducated people liked the active one (64%), and 2% were atheists
Poor people preferred the active God (62%), and 5% were atheists, but the rich preferred the disengaged variety (50%), and 6% were atheists
The more regular church attenders preferred the active God (82%), and none were atheists, but those who never ettended church went for the disengaged God (58%), and 20% were atheists
Those who pray several times a day liked the Authoritarian God (55%) while those who never prayed liked the Distant God or were atheists.
Jews prefer the Distant God (42%)
Catholics were even among the four, preferring slightly the Distant God (29%) and the Benevolent one (28%), and Mainline Protestants were also evenly divided with a slight preference (29%) for the Distant God
A majority of black Protestants (68%) believe in an Authoritarian God and so do Evangelical Christians (52%)
Biblical literalists strongly favoured the Authoritarian God (60%) who was masculine (56%)
Many young people under 30 believe God is Authoritarian (40%)
Of those who believed God is Authoritarian, 23% think abortion is always wrong, compared with an average of 12% and 2% of those who believe in a distant God
Those who believed God is Authoritarian were most against gay marriage (81%), pre-marital sex (59%), adultery (93%) and cohabitation (50%), but all Christians approved of divorce, the least approving being the authoritarians again at 8%
Easterners have an even mix of beliefs in the four Gods, and 8% are atheists
Southerners tend towards an Authoritarian God (44%), and three percent are atheists
Midwesterners are divided between an Authoritarian (33%) and a Benevolent (29%) God
The West Coast is divided between a Benevolent (27%) and a Distant God (30%)

On a lot of political issues and what is needed to be good, Americans are fairly agreed irrespective of their religious beliefs. Here are the averages for the population. On the equal distribution of wealth (58%), the closer regulation of businesses (65%), protection of the environment (83%), affirmative action programs (45%), seeking social and economic justice (37%), helping the needy (63%), consuming less (17%), and serving in the armed services (17%), differences are small.

Believers in the Distant God are twice as likely (27%) to want the death penalty abolished as believers in the Authoritarian God (12%)
Believers in the Authoritarian God are twice as likely (63%) to want military spending increased and to increase repression to fight terror (76%) as believers in the Distant God (34% and 40% respectively)
Believers in the Authoritarian God are three times as likely (47%) to want funding for faith-based organizations as those who believe in the Distant God (13%)
Believers in the Authoritarian God are twice as likely (91%) to want the constitution changing to allow prayer in schools as those who believe in the Distant God (47%)
Believers in the Authoritarian God are twice as likely (22%) to want to convert others as the average citizen (10%), and believers in the Distant God have almost no interest in converting others (<1%)
Believers in the Authoritarian God are three times as likely (37%) to want to teach others their morals as those who believe in the Distant God (11%)

Beliefs about God are strongly related to views on the war on terror and trust of Bush’s leadership. The relationship between religion and opinions about the war on terror are “powerful and universal”.

Those who attend church more are likely to support the Iraq war, support the Patriot Act, think Saddam was behind the 9/11 attacks, and trust Bush
Evangelical Protestants (60%) are most likely to approve of the Iraq War, followed by Catholics (47%) and Mainstream Protestants (45%) about equally
Believers in the Authoritarian God support the Iraq war, support the Patriot Act, think Saddam was behind the 9/11 attacks, and trust Bush two to three times more than believers in the Distant God, with Gods B and C falling between in sequence
A fifth (19%) of Americans thought God favoured the US, but a good majority (69%) did not, and this extended even to the most authoritarian believers. For those who believed in the Authoritarian God, those who voted Republican, and those who supported Bush, the proportions who respectively agreed, were undecided and disagreed with this proposition were 30%, 13% and 55%, give or take a point or so, the same for the three categories, suggesting that conceptions of God relate to party political beliefs
Whites (48%) are nearly four times more likely to believe the war is justified than blacks

The authors of the report on the Baylor Religion Survey were surprised by the level of paranormal belief and experience in the United States. It seems odd to be surprised by this when religion depends on it. To believe in God, angels, demons, saints and the rest of the supernatural fauna of religion must require a predisposition to accept such fancies, but the survey seemed to find paranormal beliefs and experiences were more likely among people outside traditional religion. It suggests that those who think they are substitutes for religion or even incipient religions might be right. Paranormal beliefs were most prevalent in eastern states and less prevalent in southern states, though the range of variation was not great.

41% of Americans believe in Atlantis
75% of Americans believe in alternative medicine
28% of Americans believe the mind alone can move objects
12% of Americans believe fortune tellers can tell the future and astrology effects us
20% of Americans believe they can communicate with the dead
37% of Americans believe in ghosts
52% of Americans believe dreams can foretell the future
25% of Americans believe UFOs are aliens from other worlds
18% of Americans believe in monsters like Bigfoot and lake monsters

Women are twice as likely as men to believe psychics foresee the future, astrology affects us, and we can communicate with the dead. Women have the higher degree of belief on all of these beliefs except UFOs. Men and women are about equal on alternative medicine.

Christianity and Woman

A census of religiosity was taken in London in 1902-1903. 372,264 worshippers were adult males and 607,257 were adult females, the rest being children and Jews. About two thirds more women attended church than men in those days. In educated districts, the Catholic Church had two to four times as many female worshippers as male. Taking four Catholic or Anglo-Catholic churches in the wealthier part of London, the figures were:

Brompton Oratory: 267 men and 1,105 women.
Carmelite Church: 276 men and 807 women.
Holy Trinity: 160 men and 880 women.
Christ’s Church: 249 men and 1,034 women.

The first of these was at the time the most ornate and wealthy Catholic church in England, the third was a ritualist Protestant church in the same wealthy district. In poorer, working class districts where the churches were shabby, the music and art poor and the men not educated, men and women were more evenly represented in church, though women were always in the majority.

East Ham: 4,996 men and 7,048 women.
West Ham: 11,130 men and 16,230 women.
Ilford: 4,585 men and 6,309 women.

These figures supported what Susan B Anthony wrote when she said that women form “from two-thirds to three-fourths of the membership of the Churches of America”. At the same date, in Paris, there were four women in church to one man.

Giving equal education and environment to the sexes might be expected to have reduced the disproportion of the sexes in church, but modern information does not confirm this. Now women get the same education. She sports, smokes, drinks, swears, tells dirty stories, plays golf, works in an office, jives, and is more able to gratify her sexual needs. Women are still about 30% more likely to be religious than men, but in some churches the ratio is much bigger. The Christian Scientists have three times as many women as men, Pentacostalists twice as many and a lot of Protestant sects have about 50% more. Among American Catholics, the balance is quite even but women Catholics are much more likely to attend for voluntary acts like confession than men are. Part of the reason is the offer of salvation and women’s greater tendency to feel that they need it though guilt. So old religious habits in women must die hard.

The man’s business does not promote the frame of mind which church-going requires, while the monotony of housework and part-time “women’s work” disposes them towards church-going. Men still often have a more practical and realistic education, in school and in trade. The husband is busy, he has lived in a skeptical atmosphere, he has no particular urge toward a priest of his own sex, and even distrusts him for visiting in the afternoon, and he is conscious of wanting to leave his money to his family for material security rather than give it to the church for spiritual security—the priest’s material security. Nevertheless, many men think the church is an insurance of the integrity of his property, the faithfulness of his wife and the chastity of his daughter, and he urges them to attend, while he goes to the pub or plays golf. The woman is the opposite in every respect. The woman has traditionally had much less occasion to develop the critical side of judgment.

The clergy make far greater efforts to secure female worshippers in wealthier than in poorer districts. The women are more attractive, better company, have ample leisure and more luxurious homes. Visiting rich women is a delight to priests and grasping ministers. Visiting poor women is a drudgery.

Quite apart from wealth and education, sex counts. The priest prefers women to men. Women are drawn to priests far more than men are. Even the more pious women have their sense of his high sacerdotal character enhanced by their consciousness of sexuality. The aim of churches is to gratify the emotions of women particularly. Priests do not merely influence her more than they influence man. They concentrate on her far more than on men. The visiting priest sees the woman four times as often as he sees the man of the house. She is exposed far more than the man is to priestly pressure and to the minister’s suggestions.

The minister of religion depends more on the woman for propagating the religion than on the man. From the fourth century onward it has been a tradition in the Christian Church that, if you have a mother or grown-up daughter zealous in a home, you have the best chance of securing the others. Girls are still often sent to be taught by nuns in convent schools. Priests will subtly urge wives to use their sex—by refusing or grudging it—in inducing a husband to go to church, and hers is the chief influence on the children. As Ignatius Loyola said, they want the children!

Curiously, Jesus had no regard to speak of for his mother, so why women should love him as they do is particularly hard to understand. Every word of Christ to or about his mother is harsh, and she joined his brothers in wanting to have him put under restraint. He had the Essene aversion to women. The Jews of the time had a profound veneration for their fathers and little regard for their mothers. The Essenes took this to extremes.

Christianity and Class

In the UK in 1957, 70% of the upper classes attended church at least occasionally, but only 50% of the middle classes and 40% of the workers. The same trend occurs in the US. The lower classes who attend church in the US are likely to be fundamentalists. N J Demarath III found that the upper class attenders were more liberal, and thought the church should be involved in social issues, but working class believers were conservative and disapproved of the church being involved in “politics”. It is the poor who have mystical experiences because they are emotionally rather than intellectually involved in the church. In the UK, less than a half of working class people believed in the after-life compared with two thirds of the upper class.

Traditional churches meet the needs of the middle class in the USA but W R Goldschmidt found in rural California that evangelical sects offered working class people a fantasy world as relief from poverty, drudgery and frustration. Poor Whites and Blacks, contrary to Marx, thought they gained status in church, being more readily accepted by the community of churchgoers. They were also led to believe they were a spiritual elite, and could enjoy a fantasy superiority. Sect members frequently consider that members of their own sect are the only righteous people. Everyone else in society are sinners. The differences between Europe and the US are that the working people of Europe were politically organized to obtain gains in real life, but that was less often the case in the US. Many of the poorest workers in the US did not organize politically, and took to the fantasy world of the church instead.

In the US, the churches themselves have a perceived social ranking. G Winter wrote:

The church is a reflection of the economic ladder.

The ladder is ascended along with economic progress, and acceptance of the believer by higher ranking congregations measures their social progress. Church membership is a success symbol like a car and a house. B Lazerwitz put the order as Episcopalians, Jews and Presbyterians at the top, Methodists, Lutherans and Catholics in the middle, and White and Negro Baptists at the bottom. Others add Mormons to the bottom group and Congregationalists and Christian Scientists to the top.

In a study in Detroit, the average years of school attendance of the sample was 12, but Congregationalists and Jews averaged 16 and these denominations had respectively 70% and 50% higher incomes than the average. Fundamentalists and Baptists spent 11 years at school and their incomes were ten percent less than the average.

Religious feeling falls off with the size of the community, so that people in rural communities and small towns are more religious than people in cities. Farmers often have traditional or even Fundamentalist beliefs, even when they do not normally attend a church.

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Last uploaded: 19 April, 2008.