What Americans Really Believe [Paperback]

Rodney Stark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 19, 2008

A shocking snapshot of the most current impulses in American religion. Rodney Stark reports the surprising findings of the 2007 Baylor Surveys of Religion, a follow up to the 2005 survey revealing most Americans believe in God or a higher power. This new volume highlights even more hot-button issues of religious life in our country. A must-read for anyone interested in Americans' religious beliefs and practices.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sociologist Stark has been surveying and observing American religious beliefs and practices for 40 years. This broad experience is reflected in the breadth of questions used to characterize contemporary American religious attitudes; from the Bible to Bigfoot, denomination to Da Vinci Code, beliefs are measured and correlated with oodles of demographics. Stark provides evidence for his overarching theme that some fundamental American religious practices and ideas have remained both stable and diverse as a result of religious competition. The book's numbers will spark lively discussion and questions about inferences drawn from statistics and the ways in which questions were posed. Why, for example, are Catholics not considered a strict church that makes demands of members? Why is belief in miraculous physical healing considered mystical and not paranormal? Some will say that snarky snipes (calling other researchers careless and disparaging National Public Radio) have no place in data-driven sociology; others will relish a statistics-slinging fight among academics. Regardless, all who find in statistics precise food for thought, as well as articles, more surveys and books, owe Stark and his colleagues at Baylor gratitude. (Sept.)
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Review

What Americans Really Believe gives a detailed, comprehensive often surprising snapshot of the most current impulses in American religion. Seven decades of research confirm that about 95% of the American population is interested in religion and spirituality. The results of this survey is an indispensable resource for understanding the American public. --George H. Gallup Jr., American Public Opinion Statistician

A worthy addition to the burgeoning survey data literature in the sociology of religion. Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. --CHOICE

All who find in statistics precise food for thought ... owe Stark and his colleagues at Baylor gratitude. --Publisher's Weekly

All who find in statistics precise food for thought ... owe Stark and his colleagues at Baylor gratitude. --Publisher's Weekly

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Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Baylor University Press; illustrated edition edition (September 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602581789
• ISBN-13: 978-1602581784
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #737,038 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of charts & data with fascinating conclusions..., January 13, 2009

By 

Keith Ferguson (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: What Americans Really Believe (Paperback)

I've reviewed one Rodney Stark book before on my blog - his amazing work on early Christianity called The Rise of Christianity. In this book, Stark continues his pattern of using great research to challenge the common misconceptions that people inside and outside the church have about the Christian faith. I really appreciated his insights in What Americans Really Believe because I hear all the wrong conclusions in the circles I run with all the time. Pastors tend to continue to spread summary statements like "We're losing this generation of young people" or "The church is shrinking in America" or "Mega-churches have low standards for their people" without any supporting data. This book is definitely not for everyone (hence the 4/5 rating) because it contains lots of data and lots of charts about American religious life. But for a pastor in the trenches, it was very helpful.

Here are my pick of the top ten points that Stark makes in this book...

(1) Weekly church attendance as percentage of American population has been consistent over the last 50 years. Now people may report that they attend weekly when they actually don't (called the Halo effect), but the data shows that the same percentage of Americans have reported they attend weekly over the last 50 years.

(2) Conservative, evangelical denominations have been growing rapidly over the last 50 years while more liberal denominations have been shrinking. While attendance has been consistent overall, it has not been consistent across denominations. Those who believe the Bible and teach the historical doctrines of the faith have been growing, while those who don't have been getting smaller.

(3) The percentage of Americans who belong to a local church (members) has increased from 17% in 1776 to 69% in 2005. Despite the common myth that America has gone from churched to unchurched over the course of our nation's history, the data shows the opposite. That separation of church from state (no government funding of churches) has helped churches become more competitive for members and thus increased the percentage of churched Americans.

(4) Across the board, mega-churches tend to be more conservative doctrinally and expect more of their members than small congregations. Despite the common belief that big is bad, larger churches seem to be growing because they are more committed to the gospel, not less, and because they ask more from their members.

(5) Most Americans believe in a real heaven and real hell, and that they will most likely be going to heaven. Americans are interesting in that they believe that God created hell, but that He won't be sending anyone there when they die.

(6) As Americans make more money, the percentage of what they give to their local church goes down. In other words, the poorest Americans give the highest percent of their income. People who make less than $20k a year give 6.2% on average, while those that make over $100k a year give 2.2% on average. I would think that this shows us that more wealth makes us more selfish and less generous.

(7) The percentage of Americans who don't believe in God has held steady at 4% from 1944 until 2007. Despite constant claims that more and more Americans are denying God's existance because of the increase of scientific knowledge, Stark's research shows that the same percentage of Americans are atheists today as were in 1944.

(8) Irreligious Americans are most likely unchurched but not atheists. Somewhat related to the last point, this insight helps those of us trying to reach people in our culture who are irreligious. The people who are irreligious are not necessarily hostile toward the idea of God, but more likely just turned off by the church.

(9) Level of education does not correlate with level of church involvement. This was one of my favorite findings in Stark's book because it puts to bed the myth that stupid, uneducated people are religious and highly educated people are irreligious. Instead, Stark's team found that the % of people involved in church varies little between those who did not complete high school and those with post-graduate education.

(10) People are 50% less likely to be divorced if they attend religious services at least twice a month. Despite all the research showing that Christians have the same divorce rate as non-Christians, Stark goes at the question not from the angle of what people believe, but what they actually do. Regular church-attenders are much less likely to get divorced.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing revelations about religion in America, November 21, 2008

By 

Jeri Nevermind "loves to read" (Idaho) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: What Americans Really Believe (Paperback)

Are Americans changing their basic beliefs about religion? Doubters and theists will find plenty of food for thought in this book.

"For several centuries, Western intellectuals have been predicting the death of religion" (p 115). Science, it was thought, would displace religion. Or politics. In the Soviet Union and other communist countries the clergy and devout worshipers were sent to the gulag or murdered. The entire educational system under communism taught against the belief in God. And today atheists like Dawkins sell books by the millions railing against belief.

Well...surprise. Even in the old Soviet Union belief is growing, not declining. And vast new numbers of converts in Asia and Africa are joining religions. (For further information on this topic read 'The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity' by Philip Jenkins.)

America remains stubbornly religious, although mainline Protestant churches are in decline. Women continue (even as they did in ancient Rome) to be more religious than men. Odd findings about atheists in America include the fact that they are "disproportionately from Jewish homes...and...are overwhelmingly on the political left" (p 122).

Believers may find it troubling that a growing number of younger Americans are more drawn to "spirituality" than to religion. In Europe especially, where belief in God has declined, huge numbers have returned to New Age, magic, and ancient pagan practices.

One small caveat about the book: Stark mistakenly states that Catholics no longer are required to go to Mass every Sunday.

Rodney Stark is one of the most enjoyable writers on the subject of religion today. If you haven't read "The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal, Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force" and "The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success" do yourself a favor and run out and get them.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good information, February 11, 2009

By 

Patch "Patch" (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: What Americans Really Believe (Paperback)

it is a very good review of some opinion polls about religion in America. I hoped it might be more text than polls, but it is not. But, it is interesting.