Recent FoxNews survey found 92% believe in God

In a recent poll conducted by Fox News, a full 92% affirmed that they believe in the concept of God. But if you ask people, “what is your relationship with God?” then the answers become much hazier. It’s a much more confrontational question, isn’t it?

More Believe In God Than Heaven

More Americans believe in God than in angels, miracles, and even heaven. And while half attend worship services on a regular basis, a majority thinks religion plays too small a role in people’s lives today.

Fully 92 percent of Americans say they believe in God, 85 percent in heaven and 82 percent in miracles, according to the latest FOX News poll. Though belief in God has remained at about the same level, belief in the devil has increased slightly over the last few years — from 63 percent in 1997 to 71 percent today.

The national poll, conducted by Opinion Dynamics Corporation (search), shows that about a third of Americans believe in ghosts (34 percent) and an equal number in UFOs (34 percent), and about a quarter accept things like astrology (search) (29 percent), reincarnation (search) (25 percent) and witches (24 percent)

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There is a gender gap on many of these subjects. Women are more likely than men to believe in almost all topics asked about in the poll, including 12 percentage points more likely to believe in miracles and eight points more likely to trust there is a heaven. The one significant exception is UFOs, with 39 percent of men compared to 30 percent of women saying they accept the existence of unidentified flying objects.

Young people are much more likely than older Americans to believe in both hell and the devil. An 86 percent majority of adults between the ages of 18 to 34 believe in hell, but that drops to 68 percent for those over age 70. Similarly, 79 percent of young people believe in the devil compared to 67 percent of the over-70 age group.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say they believe in God (by eight percentage points), in heaven (by 10 points), in hell (by 15 points), and considerably more likely to believe in the devil (by 17 points). Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they believe in reincarnation (by 14 percentage points), in astrology (by 14 points), in ghosts (by eight points) and UFOs (by five points).

Overall, most Americans think religion plays too small a role in people’s lives today (69 percent), with only 15 percent saying it plays too large a role and seven percent saying “about right.”

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The poll finds over a third (37 percent) say they attend church, synagogue or other place of worship at least once a week, 13 percent almost every week, 12 percent about once a month and 19 percent seldom attend. Three percent attend on holidays and 15 percent never attend.

Polling was conducted by telephone September 23-24, 2003 in the evenings. The sample is 900 registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of ±3 percentage points. Results are of registered voters, unless otherwise noted. NA = national adult

1. I'm going to read the names of some people and groups. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of each. If you've never heard of one, please just say so. (RANDOMIZE)
SCALE: 1. Favorable 2. Unfavorable 3. (Can't say) 4. Never heard of 5. The Catholic Church

	Favorable	Unfavorable	Can’t say	Never heard
23-24 Sep 03	46%	29	24	1

2. Do you think religion plays too large or too small a role in most people’s lives today?
SCALE: 1. Too large 2. Too small 3. (About right) 4. (Not sure)

	Too Large	Too Small	(About Right)	(NS)
23-24 Sep 03	15%	69	7	9
24-25 Jan 01	10%	68	9	13
24-25 Mar 99	10%	73	6	11
12-13 Jun 96	14%	70	4	11

3. How often do you attend church, synagogue or other place of worship?
SCALE: 1. At least once a week 2. Almost every week 3. About once a month 4. Seldom 5. Never 6. (On holidays/holy days) 7. (Not sure)

	Once Week	Almst Wkly	Once Month	Seldom	Never	(Holidays/ holy days)	(Not sure)
23-24 Sep 03	37%	13	12	19	15	3	1
24-25 Mar 99	35%	11	12	27	13	1	1

4. Do you personally believe in the existence of each of the following? (ROTATE LIST)
SCALE: 1. Believe 2. Don't believe 3. (Not sure)

	Believe	Don’t believe	Not sure
God	92%	5	3
Heaven	85%	10	5
Miracles	82%	14	4
Angels	78%	15	7
Hell	74%	20	6
The Devil	71%	24	5
Ghosts	34%	60	6
UFOs	34%	55	11
Astrology	29%	64	7
Reincarnation	25%	62	13
Witches	24%	69	7

Past surveys:

• God

	Believe	Don’t believe	Not sure
23-24 Sep 03	92%	5	3
17-18 July 02 (NA)	92%	6	2
25-26 July 01	91%	6	3
24-25 March 99	92%	4	4
29-30 Oct 97	95%	3	2
5-6 Feb 97	94%	4	2

• Heaven

	Believe	Don’t believe	Not sure
23-24 Sep 03	85%	10	5
17-18 July 02 (NA)	85%	10	5
25-26 July 01	86%	10	4
24-25 March 99	87%	8	5
29-30 Oct 97	88%	9	3

• Miracles

	Believe	Don’t believe	Not sure
23-24 Sep 03	82%	14	4
17-18 July 02 (NA)	85%	12	3
25-26 July 01	84%	12	4
28-29 July 99	79%	18	3
29-30 Oct 97	84%	13	3

• Angels

	Believe	Don’t believe	Not sure
23-24 Sep 03	78%	15	7
17-18 July 02 (NA)	81%	14	5
25-26 July 01	72%	22	6
28-29 July 99	73%	19	8
29-30 Oct 97	76%	20	4

• Hell

	Believe	Don’t believe	Not sure
23-24 Sep 03	74%	20	6
17-18 July 02 (NA)	71%	24	5
25-26 July 01	72%	22	6
24-25 March 99	70%	23	7
29-30 Oct 97	71%	24	5

• Ghosts

	Believe	Don’t believe	Not sure
23-24 Sep 03	34%	60	6
17-18 July 02 (NA)	41%	51	8
25-26 July 01	39%	51	10
28-29 July 99	37%	54	9
19-20 May 99	28%	68	4
29-30 Oct 97	30%	63	7

• UFOs

	Believe	Don’t believe	Not sure
23-24 Sep 03	34%	55	11
17-18 July 02 (NA)	27%	62	11
25-26 July 01	27%	63	10
29-30 Oct 97	29%	58	13

• Astrology

	Believe	Don’t believe	Not sure
23-24 Sep 03	29%	64	7
17-18 July 02 (NA)	34%	57	9
25-26 July 01	23%	72	5
29-30 Oct 97	31%	61	8

• Reincarnation

	Believe	Don’t believe	Not sure
23-24 Sep 03	25%	62	13
17-18 July 02 (NA)	24%	64	12
25-26 July 01	23%	67	10
28-29 July 99	24%	65	11
29-30 Oct 97	24%	66	10

• Witches

	Believe	Don’t believe	Not sure
23-24 Sep 03	24%	69	7
17-18 July 02 (NA)	29%	66	5
28-29 July 99	28%	66	6