Survey Finds 70 Percent In U.S. Believe Other Faiths Can Lead To Eternal Life

[MackinawTJ]

After reading about a poll on religious belief in America, I was suprised by the results, as were many other people. I decided to conduct a poll here to see if I get results similar to the actual one.

The survey can be found here

This is an excerpt from a CBS article about the poll:

America remains a nation of believers, but a new survey finds most Americans don't feel their religion is the only way to eternal life - even if their faith tradition teaches otherwise.

The findings, revealed Monday in a survey of 35,000 adults, can either be taken as a positive sign of growing religious tolerance, or disturbing evidence that Americans dismiss or don't know fundamental teachings of their own faiths.

Among the more startling numbers in the survey, conducted last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: 57 percent of evangelical church attenders said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional evangelical teaching.

In all, 70 percent of Americans with a religious affiliation shared that view, and 68 percent said there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their own religion.

The entire article can be found here

I do not believe in eternal life, but found this poll interesting because the results were not what I expected.

[Locke]

I'm not surprised. A lot Christians out there today that either don't know or don't care for half the stuff in the Bible. Since a decent number of Americans claim to be Christians(I don't think it's 70%, but it's not too far off from that), that means that they probably make up a significant chunk of this number.

[MackinawTJ]

Well here are some other figures from the same article:

By many measures, Americans are strongly religious: 92 percent believe in God, 74 percent believe in life after death and 63 percent say their respective scriptures are the word of God.

"The proportion of the [American] population that can be classified as Christian has declined from 86% in 1990 to 77% in 2001." ARIS Study.

The above is the most recent official number I found but I'm sure there is probably one that is more current. So you were close, it's 77%. Well at least, it was in 2001.

Just a quick question for you, do you believe that all the things in the bible should be taken literally, and everything in it is true? Or do you believe in multiple interpretations? I'm just wondering. From the same article:

By similar margins, people in those faith groups believe in multiple interpretations of their own traditions' teachings. Yet 44 percent of the religiously affiliated also said their religion should preserve its traditional beliefs and practices.

[Locke]

Not everything in the Bible should be taken literally(for instance, the "days" of creation and a lot of prophecy), but everything has one and only one correct interpretation. I believe that the Bible is 100% true. If it is not, then my faith would be in vain. There is no room in the Bible for halvsies, so to speak.

[Gow616]

The problem people have with the Bible is that they take it to be a literal text i.e. text is reality. Wherein realistically it is a poetic text and not everything can be taken at face value. Instead the text is open to translation as seen in numerous texts written by theologians trying to interpret a passage in the Bible. Heck, there has even been great fighting over different interpretations, like Roman and Orthodox and Martin Luther.

It is a misperceived as a text that is open to only one interpretation. Also, keep in mind the text was originally Aramaic, Greek and or / Hebrew. Three languages with a slightly more complex semantics system than English.

Example, horns of light that protrude from Moses in an English bible are not really horns in the Torah. The word used has multiple meanings and don't quite mean horns but translators just went with the literal meaning of word without looking at all facets of that word in Hebrew plus the context it was put into.

[Locke]

There may be many interpretations of specific words, but it is my belief that there is but one "correct" interpretation. Also, the Bible has parts that need to be taken poetically(Psalms for one, a book of poetry), but there are some parts that simply can't(books of history or the gospels being prime examples). No one can be a Christian and take the works of Christ figuratively. However, that's all from a Christian perspective. You probably don't think there's a single bit of actual literal truth in there, right?

[Gow616]

Literal truth for the individual is what I do believe in but keep in mind, perception of that truth will change from person to person.

After all, I want people to question their faith (or lack thereof) so that they come to a better understanding of it rather than just blindly accepting it. Whether Christian, Atheist, Jew, Islam, Buddahist, Hindu, etc.

I will not criticize what you believe in, only that you come to full understanding of it and know what it is that you have faith in.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Gow616

Literal truth for the individual is what I do believe in but keep in mind, perception of that truth will change from person to person.

After all, I want people to question their faith (or lack thereof) so that they come to a better understanding of it rather than just blindly accepting it. Whether Christian, Atheist, Jew, Islam, Buddahist, Hindu, etc.

I will not criticize what you believe in, only that you come to full understanding of it and know what it is that you have faith in.

Heh. I actually agree with you. Completely too. It's an obvious fact that everyone has a different perception of particular truths, or else everyone would think the same things. Questioning one's faith is a good thing. Hell, even the Catholics need a devil's advocate now and again. Though, I don't see why you are so adamant that I know you're not attacking me; I never got that impression.

[Gow616]

Sorry about that I keep slipping and put "you" instead of "one" or something similar.. It was a declaration aimed at the audience.

[MackinawTJ]

Last school year I asked a few christian friends and aquaintences at school whether they took the following passage in the bible literally:

Originally Posted by Mark 16:17-18

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Only one person told me she seriously thought she could drink poison and would not die. However, when I asked her if she'd do it to prove to me it's true, she refused to "test god." All my other christian friends just laughed, rolled their eyes, and told me they don't think all the things in the bible are true/can be taken literally and believing that you can actually drink deadly poison and live is pure insanity, and I agree with them that it's crazy. I'm glad that only one seemed to blindly believe the irrational and the others had more sense. It is simply unreasonable to believe that all of the bible can be taken completely literally, especially passages saying you have these "super powers" if you are christian.

[Locke]

If you take this completely literally, you DO NOT gain superpowers. However, the disciples, the ones being addressed, did. Context is of the utmost importance when interpreting scripture. In this case, this was a power given only to the disciples, and only for a short time. Jesus sent them out to do His work for a time, under His own authority. That doesn't apply to us. That'd be like saying that just because Moses can part the Red Sea, that so can any of us. Or that because Daniel prayed for and recieved the power to interpret prohpetic dreams, so can we. It's bad practice to take any verse out of context, otherwise such absurd revelations like this would be rampant.

[Weesnaw]

The findings, revealed Monday in a survey of 35,000 adults, can either be taken as a positive sign of growing religious tolerance,

What I wish happened.

or disturbing evidence that Americans dismiss or don't know fundamental teachings of their own faiths.

What did happen.

If the number of people who say they are Christian is around 77% then the number of people who actually know about/follow the religion is around 40% I bet.

[Locke]

Really, 40%? I was thinking 25%. I've actually seen some studies done into how many Christians actually hold to a fundamentally Biblical worldview, based on a series of questions as to the specific facts of their beliefs, and a surprising number of them did not follow even the most basic ones. And their priorities are screwed up two: of those polled, 93% were against using strong profanity on television, but only 56% were against adultery? In fact, among young Christians, some of the lifestyle choices are almost shocking. Young Christians are three times more likely to have pre-marital sex then give someone the finger. So, my guess is, Christians are in a great deal of trouble, and hardly even know it.

[Weesnaw]

Originally Posted by Locke

Really, 40%? I was thinking 25%. I've actually seen some studies done into how many Christians actually hold to a fundamentally Biblical worldview, based on a series of questions as to the specific facts of their beliefs, and a surprising number of them did not follow even the most basic ones. And their priorities are screwed up two: of those polled, 93% were against using strong profanity on television, but only 56% were against adultery? In fact, among young Christians, some of the lifestyle choices are almost shocking. Young Christians are three times more likely to have pre-marital sex then give someone the finger. So, my guess is, Christians are in a great deal of trouble, and hardly even know it.

That's because when they are asked if they are Christian they think they are SUPPOSED to say they are, an answer originating from when they were kids and their parents made them go to church, but they didn't pay any attention because they weren't interested and didn't want to be there in the first place. Parents should stop forcing their religion on their kids and instead educate them about it when the child is mature enough to digest it.