Poll: Americans are religiously tolerant

GoodGuysEatPie

Constructive Interference
GoodGuysEatPie
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Read an interesting article in the New York Times today:

Survey Shows U.S. Religious Tolerance

The article is about a poll conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life using phone interviews of 35,000 Americans. The interesting part is that a majority of the religious folks, including Christians, agree that there are more ways to salvation than just their own religion.

From the article:
For example, 70 percent of Americans affiliated with a religion or denomination said they agreed that “many religions can lead to eternal life,” including majorities among Protestants and Catholics. Among evangelical Christians, 57 percent agreed with the statement, and among Catholics, 79 percent did.
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I'm not too familiar with the Pew organization (other than they seem to sponsor a lot of my NPR). I haven't read their poll questions, but it seems to me that an organization dedicated to religion might be the most objective entity to poll about it. However, if they did a good job with their survey, those are interesting results.

With so many supposedly tolerant religious people out there, I wish they would say these things more openly to help drone out the fanaticism. Of course, it could just be observational bias on my part. I'm not a religious person, so I don't normally listen to them or go to their services. I hear about the fanatics, the creationists, etc because they make the news and the discussions. :(

~ggep~
 
I have to wonder if people were thinking "other christian religions" when answering the multiple path question.

Would the result be the same if the interviewer asked,
"Will muslims go to heaven? Will jews go to heaven? Will Hindus?
 
Yeah, I would have to wonder if they just meant other denominations of Christianity.
 
70 percent of Americans affiliated with a religion or denomination said they agreed that “many religions can lead to eternal life,”
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... as long as they accept jesus in their hearts. :D

No, seriously, from my own experience with the religious (but those are moderates, however), other religions are fine with them. It's atheism they have a greater problem with. That's the position they fear the most.

Another religion than your own chosen path is just seeing different a different style or color clothing the emperor. Atheism is seeing the emperor has no clothes. :p
 
What about tolerance for non-belief?

What if you don't want to go to any church/synagogue/temple, not even the "church of your choice"?
 
joobz said:
I have to wonder if people were thinking "other christian religions" when answering the multiple path question.

Would the result be the same if the interviewer asked,
"Will muslims go to heaven? Will jews go to heaven? Will Hindus?
Click to expand...


While it's possible, isn't this a bit of a strawman? You are looking for reasons to /handwave the results of the poll based on things you can't really know, because the results don't fit into your preconcieved notions, are you not? I'll even admit that I'm more willing to accept the findings, because they fit into my own preconcieved notions. Having grown up in a religious family and been to more churches and met more religious people than I can count. All of whom were good, honest, hard working people who were not judgemental, nor did they try to evangelize people in an aggressive way.

I apologize if this seems an attack. I just get the feeling that you have a desire for these people to be worse than what they are or what they may be.
 
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Well, from the link:

Previous surveys have shown that Americans think a majority of their countrymen and women will go to heaven, and that the circle is wide, embracing minorities like Jews, Muslims and atheists. But the Pew survey goes further, showing that such views are held by those within major branches of Christianity and minority faiths, too.
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Well that seems like good news. I wonder if this is a continuing trend and if/when we'd get a different result on the old atheist presidency poll.
 
Whiplash said:
While it's possible, isn't this a bit of a strawman? You are looking for reasons to /handwave the results of the poll based on things you can't really know, because the results don't fit into your preconcieved notions, are you not? I'll even admit that I'm more willing to accept the findings, because they fit into my own preconcieved notions. Having grown up in a religious family and been to more churches and met more religious people than I can count. All of whom were good, honest, hard working people who were not judgemental, nor did they try to evangelize people in an aggressive way.

I apologize if this seems an attack. I just get the feeling that you have a desire for these people to be worse than what they are or what they may be.
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Well as someone who has had people leave the party because I called myself a witch, I beg to differ. And when you call yourself an atheist it is worse, the issue is that the report does not clarify the question.

Considering that many Americans can't even get France right on a map, I am not sure that giving them the benefit of a doubt is useful, if the poll asked specificaly about hindus, animalists, voodoo, witchcraft and atheists then i would be less suspicious.

But in an enviroment where many condemn harry potter, you have to wonder...
 
If we look here
http://religions.pewforum.org/comparisons#

The statement is that 'many religions can lead to eternal life', unfortunately not 'can a good atheist go to heaven'.

this I do find encouraging:

50% tolerance of homosexuals (still too low)
And the enviromental issues.

Darn thing wont let you link to specific results, at least on the intro page.
 
Dancing David said:
If we look here
http://religions.pewforum.org/comparisons#

The statement is that 'many religions can lead to eternal life', unfortunately not 'can a good atheist go to heaven'.

this I do find encouraging:

50% tolerance of homosexuals (still too low)
And the enviromental issues.

Darn thing wont let you link to specific results, at least on the intro page.
Click to expand...

'Can a good atheist go to heaven?' would have been an unsuitable phrasing for religions without a concept of heaven.

And since atheism in itself has no position regarding a possible afterlife, I doubt that the question can be applied to atheists in general.
 
Whiplash said:
I apologize if this seems an attack. I just get the feeling that you have a desire for these people to be worse than what they are or what they may be.
Click to expand...
Not at all. I was simply wondering how far someone considers "other religions". Having been asked before by christians, "Oh you're Greek Orthodox..Is that still christian?" and while attending the greek church, it was clear that views of godliness correlated proportionately with just how greek you were. I had to wonder what the assumptions were the people being polled were making.

It seems from Mashuana's post that it is clear that other religions were indeed considered and my question was therefore answered.

I hope this trend of acceptance continues, but it does represent a radical shift in christian faith.
 
blauregen said:
'Can a good atheist go to heaven?' would have been an unsuitable phrasing for religions without a concept of heaven.

And since atheism in itself has no position regarding a possible afterlife, I doubt that the question can be applied to atheists in general.
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You can rephrase it to say heaven/nirvana/whatever, or 'the place you believe good people go after death'.

And as for atheists, it's the tolerance of the religious we're polling. The beliefs of the target group is of no relevance whatsoever. If the religious are tolerant of atheists, it should not matter to them whether they believe or not in a concept of heaven. Like it does not matter to a good doctor treating a patient if he believes in the cure or not in his care and compassion for that patient. We're talking about caring and accepting people as they are, believing in their basic goodness and wanting to share heaven/nirvana/whatever with them.
 
joobz said:
i

I hope this trend of acceptance continues, but it does represent a radical shift in christian faith.
Click to expand...

From my perspective, it doesn't represent a radical shift. My personal experience all my life is that the general public, and the general christian public, has always been fairly tolerant to religious differences. The non-tolerant elements (the exceptions to the rule, and the more extremist) unfortunately are always the loudest and most visible: the ones yelling from the pulpit, or in the news. So the survey just confirmed what my experience had already been, and I'm glad this kind of digging is going on.
 
Wow, good news. I was afraid I was going to hell for being an Agnostic. :rolleyes:

It's good that people are more tolerant than I thought, though.
 
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I would agree, with the poll that most mirkins (and most peops) are tolerant of differing beliefs, unfortunately it is the vocal sucktards* that just show the make most peops go "WOW! I hope I don't meet a septic today as I am an a fundy slap down mood and I would rather come down with a slight case of crucifixion or acute jihad on my way home from the pub."

* I have a speech problem today,
 
I've lived in the bible belt my entire life and, from my perspective, toleration doesn't exist here. Southern Baptist fundies will tell you, with a straight face, that Catholics are going to hell because "they worship the pope and the Virgin Mary". And the SB's wage all out war against Mormons, who again are going to hell, according the the SB's.

A friend of mine's Mom is a devout Catholic and he tells me she believes all non Catholics are doomed to hell because they don't belong the "true" church.

I am darn careful who knows that I am an agnostic. Denying jeebus in the Bible Belt id's you as a "commie pinko fag" (thx Charlie Daniels) never to be trusted or associated with.

I wonder how many people on the survey lied about their true beliefs? After all, a xistian's holy book makes it very clear jeebus is the only path to eternal life. Or do all these liberal xistians only pick and choose the parts of the holy book that suits them?
 
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