An analysis by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life suggests that blacks are considerably more religious than the overall U.S. population. You can see the whole report here.
“While the U.S. is generally considered a highly religious nation, African-Americans are markedly more religious on a variety of measures than the U.S. population as a whole, including level of affiliation with a religion, attendance at religious services, frequency of prayer and religion’s importance in life,” the report says.
Its highlights include:
- Nearly eight in 10 blacks (79 percent) say religion is very important in their lives, compared with 56 percent among all U.S. adults.
- Blacks attend religious services and pray more frequently than the general population. While 39 percent of all Americans report attending religious services at least once a week, 53 percent of blacks report the same.
- Similarly, while 58 percent of all Americans report praying at least once a day, 76 percent of blacks report praying daily.
- The vast majority of blacks are Protestant (78 percent), compared with 51 percent of the U.S. adult population as a whole.
The findings, drawn mostly from data within Pew’s Religious Landscape Survey conducted in 2007, have political as well as cultural implications.
President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party made a strong bid in last November’s presidential election to woo voters of faith — a strategy that dovetailed neatly with Obama’s strong appeal to the party’s black base.
The survey also highlights the cultural and social conservatism of U.S. blacks on issues such as gay rights.
According to Pew Research Center surveys conducted in the summer of 2008, nearly two-thirds of blacks said they opposed gay marriage compared to 51 percent among whites.
Some leading groups in the religious right such as the Family Research Council have been tapping this vein by forming alliances with leading black Christian conservatives.
Democrat and Republican strategists will no doubt read this report carefully.
(Photo: Barack Obama at a New Orleans church, Aug. 26, 2007. REUTERS/Lee Celano, USA)
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[...] Study: Blacks are More Religious than the Overall U.S. [...]
- Posted by Top Black News Headlines – January 31, 2009 | The Black Report Archives[...] conservatives. Democrat and Republican strategists will no doubt read this report carefully. FaithWorld Blog Archive African Americans top U.S. religious measures-Pew | Blogs | The black community seems to always be behind the white community in this country. As Democrats [...]
- Posted by African Americans top U.S. religious measures-Pew - Hymoo (Beta Version)sorry ken, i was a none believer now i am a believer,have been for twenty years.my faith sustains me,it makes everything worthwhile ,not only have i only heard about the lord ,he lives within me.he is more tangible to me than any thing you could say.he is with me on this journey that i make through this life ,and some day i will stand before him,WELL DONE GOOD- AND FAITHFUL SERVANT.
- Posted by brian leeNEWS FLASH - Studies confirm that water is wet too!
While I do understand and appreciate the value of studies like this, I always find it humorous when they confirm the obvious.
As a black person who was immunized from religious belief by learning to reason before I learned to believe, I am continually dismayed at the level of religiousity I encounter from even the better informed of us in the black community.
I look forward to a day when more black people will put down religion and other forms of god belief as vestiges of the past and deal with reality directly and affirmatively.
We live in a complex, confusing but also wonderful world that offers an infinity of possibilities if we embrace reality rather than believe in the superstitions we call religion and spirituality.
These beliefs in magic interfere with our ability to operate in the real world and keep us hoping for celestial Santa Clauses to handle our business for us which sabotages our progress in developing the skills to handle things ourselves.
While I do not expect to live to see this day, I am sure that one day Jesus, Yahweh and other god characters will take their rightful places alongside Osiris, Zeus, Thor and all of the other imaginary gods that human societies have made up over the years to try and explain a world that exceeded the grasp of their knowledge.
While our knowledge of the world and universe will never be complete, we certainly have learned enough to know that our ancestors were clueless about the true nature of most things physical, so there is no rational reason to think that they somehow got it right about things that we do not understand even today…
- Posted by Ken Grandersonwell first of all let’s get something clear
first of all , Americans has traditions, and religion carries on religious traditions for everything including ol folk tales and superstitions
Religion vs relationship with God
- Posted by Cristellayou can be religious and not go to heaven ,it is all about your relationship with God
i Am a black american and let me say we are not all not like that so stop sayinging BLACKS because your puting us in one catorgy!
- Posted by BTrustPS i’m religious just in my own way!!
oh lonesome me what are hanging about the religious sites for?are you hoping someone will befriend you.the disciples said “Why do you speak to the multitudes in parables and not to us”?he said” because you have been GIVEN the knowledge to understand the mysteries of god “.sorry buddy this is a hand out you missed out on up till now.god bless.
- Posted by brian leeIt is a shame that so many black people are closed minded. God doesn’t exist, and praying does absolutely nothing more than wishful thinking does.
~black atheist~
- Posted by Oh! Lonesome Me[...] “African Americans top U.S. religious measures-Pew”. [...]
- Posted by » “African Americans top U.S. religious m … Talk Islambeing a racist is nothing to do with the color of your skin,it is whats in your heart.i attended a school in northern england, the number of students about 500.there was only one black kid in the school,but he was something else.he the schools prefect(head boy],he was the best scholar,he captained the football team.,and led the counties athletic team as well.every one in the school loved him,teachers as well.he was every one,s friend,and guess what he was an orphan,he was bused in every day from’” dr barnado,s home” an orphanage.many years later, he is still my hero and always will be, and i thank him for the racial balance that i have in my life.
- Posted by brian leeyes tie, i attended a black church. the preacher was a racist so i walked out like obama should have done.
- Posted by brian leeHey, how about typing in lower case, too? These comments look like they’re screaming when they’re all in caps.
- Posted by Tom HeneghanAfrican Americans top U.S. religious measures-Pew WHICH TRANSLATE AFRICAN AMERICANS MOST GULLIBLE GROUP IN AMERICA!
- Posted by jbcrushSO IN ALL BLACKS ARE PREYING TO THE WRONG GOD AND IT TELLS THEM THIS IN THE BIBLE,CAUSE IT WAS WRITTEN ON THE WALLS OF EGYPT BUT BLACKS HAVE BEEN PROGRAMMED TO THINK THE REAL GOD IS THIS WHITE JESUS.VERY DEEP.THE BIBLE HAS BASIC LAWS IN THEIR THAT ARE CORRECT TO FOLLOW BUT AS FAR AS THE STORIES AND OTHER PARTS COMPLETELY TWISTED OR JUST FALSE ALTOGETHER.FOR SOME REASON BLACKS WANT TO THINK EUROPEANS WHO TOOK STOLE BEAT OUR CULTURE OOUT OF US LIKE THEY WILL ACTUALLY GIVE US A BOOK TOREAD THAT WAS GONNA BE REAL. THIS IS THE BIGGEST SCREWUP IN LIFE,BUT IT WILL COME BACK HAUNT THE PERPERTRAITORS FOR A LONG TIME,THE BIBLE IS A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE SPIRITUALITY OF AFRIKAN PEOPLE IN THE US HAD, IN OTHER WORDS BLACKS HAVE BEEN NOT ONLY DUMMIED TO TO EUROPEAN STANDARDS,BUT LOST ALL OUT REAL SPRITUALITY BECASUE OF THIS IMAGE OF GOD AND THE FLASE BIBLE.BIBLE A LIKE A PIECE OF A THOUSAND WORD PUZZLE A SMALL SECTION OF THE PUZZLE,BUT WE WALK AROUND WITH ONLY THAT BOOK LIKE ONCE YOU HAVE THAT BOOK THATS IT,THIS WAS APART OF THE SLAVERY PROGRAM
- Posted by JAY