Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
 

SecularMotion

(7,981 posts)
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 03:00 PM Jun 2012

Confidence in the Church/Organized Religion Declining

Gallup’s annual Confidence in Institutions survey for this year was conducted 7-10 June 2012, and the results were published last Wednesday. Gallup has been conducting this kind of survey since 1973, and annually since 1993. Participants were asked to tell how much confidence they had—great deal/quite a lot, some, or very little/none—in the list of institutions presented. Based on the results, the biggest declines in confidence were for television news, the public schools, and organized religions.

I want to zero in on the results of the survey pertaining to confidence in the church/organized religion. According to the survey results, confidence in the church/organized religion declined 4 percet this year relative to last year. Also, for the sixteen institutions addressed in this year’s survey, the results were compared to their historical averages as well. For instance, for the church/organized religion, while 44 percent expressed confidence in this institution for this current year, that was 12 percentage points below the historical average of 56 percent. Similarly, public schools, Congress (no surprise here), and television news are all currently at least 10 percent below their historical average ratings.

According to Gallup, “The declining confidence seems to be a part of a broader pattern, rather than a product of isolated issues facing individual institutions.” The implication is that once the economy improves and Americans begin to feel better about the state of the United States, their confidence in the major institutions will improve.

For the church I think it’s more complicated than that.

http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/poll-confidence-in-the-churchorganized-religion/

12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

Rambis

(7,774 posts)
1. Drove through a really crappy little town this weekend
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 03:07 PM
Jun 2012

the church was stone, the windows stained glass arches were massive and the parking lot cement immaculate. The houses, trailers and streets were a total disgrace. Stark contrast

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
2. According to this writer, churchgoers expect their churches to be more progressive
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 03:20 PM
Jun 2012

and are disappointed that they are not.

It would be interesting to see results broken down by kinds of churches (or other religious institutions).

 

rug

(82,333 posts)
3. It was a survey of public institutions, not simply religions.
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 04:03 PM
Jun 2012


http://www.gallup.com/poll/155258/Confidence-Public-Schools-New-Low.aspx

Organized religion did better than all the others except the military, police and big business.

 

laconicsax

(14,860 posts)
4. I don't think being regarded as more trustworthy than banks and HMOs is anything to crow about.
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 04:42 PM
Jun 2012
 

daaron

(763 posts)
5. Correction: small business.
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 04:58 PM
Jun 2012

Big business had only 21% high confidence. It's SMALL biz with 63%.

dimbear

(6,271 posts)
6. There are many measures of confidence. The most famous one in the US is the consumer confidence
Mon Jun 25, 2012, 05:28 PM
Jun 2012

index. Almost without exception they show a jog down in the last 10 years.

It may be that people are losing confidence in confidence, but that would be a topic for meta.

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Religion»Confidence in the Church/...