Black churches show people that "you may not have money, you may not have houses or land, but you have value," says Murray.
Believers in the Pews--and the Polling Booth
A new study on the intersection of politics, religion and race.
Newsweek Web Exclusive
Updated: 11:45 AM ET Jun 23, 2008
The more religiously active an American is, the more likely he is to vote Republican--unless he's black. That fact emerged in the second part of a Pew Forum study on the landscape of religious life in the United States, released this June.
The first part of the survey, released in February, showed that religion in the United States is both diverse and remarkably fluid--44 percent of Americans have switched their religious affiliation or denomination (or abandoned organized religion altogether). The new part, which looks at how religion informs American social and political values, further highlights religious diversity in the United States, underscoring the variety in patterns of belief and worship. "We have the tendency to believe that all members of one affiliation are the same, or that all people that frequently attend religious services are the same," says John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum and a professor of political science at the University of Akron. "But that's not the case. There is greater diversity."
Despite the country's religious multiformity, however, black Americans are the most consistently religious--and religiously active--ethnic group in the country. More than 90 percent of black Americans surveyed reported having a religious affiliation, and more than six in 10 said they were members of historically black Protestant churches. Moreover, black Protestants are among the most religiously involved Americans--85 percent say religion is very important in their lives, and more than half say they attend worship services at least once a week.
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I'm sorry, but just for my
I'm sorry, but just for my sanity, the authors citing those stats to make a point, right? Everybody knows those stats, right?
Now, I know all black folks don't go to church. But do white folks know so little about us and our lives?
no1skate, no, not everyone knows those stats
Black folks know it instinctively. Even the heathens that don't go to church know it.
"Even the heathens that
"Even the heathens that don't go to church know it."
You have to smile when you write something like this. I can't remember a time when I didn't know this to be true.
Heathens? ahem...
Heathens?
ahem...
LOL Yeah, we do. It's just a
LOL
Yeah, we do. It's just a shock to the system everytime I realize how little is known about us by white America. Especially when one compares fact to racist fiction.
But after the way they carried out about Rev. Wright as though we spend our Sundays planning suicide bombings, you know this news must be freaking some of'em out!
pt, I was thinking of one of my closest girlfriends
when all the Rev. Wright stuff initially went down. She hasn't been inside a church since she was 18, but was like, ' look, even this heathen knows that's not a big deal for Black folk (what Wright said and how he said it)' . I cracked up when she said it. I imagined the elders of the church using that word.
heathens
That word is funny to me, no offense P6. It's lost its original punch for me.
And I thought the same thing, rik. You don't have be a regular worshipper to know what goes down. If you're black. I think a user here used the term "parrellel universe" to describe the difference in knowledge basis for black and white folks.
I just hadn't heard the word
I just hadn't heard the word in a while. I like archaicisms like that.
I almost went with an Aunt Esther joke but realized most of y'all aren't as familiar with Sanford and Son as I.
Fred, you ole heathen! I'm
Fred, you ole heathen!
I'm not as familiar as you probably are, P6. But my father used to watch it and if we wanted to watch TV, we had to watch it too.
I decided at the age of ten
I decided at the age of ten to become a heathen. My father fully supported my decision. (:~)
speaking of
speaking of intergenerational distinctions... my facebook profile lists my religion as "heathen."