Harris Poll finds U.S. belief in God down from previous years. A procession of priests files into St. Patrick Cathedral at the Solemn Vespers ceremony for for New Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan in New York on April 14, 2009. (UPI Photo/Mike Segar/Pool) |
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NEW YORK, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Three-quarters of U.S. adults say they believe in God, down from 82 percent in 2005, 2007 and 2009, a Harris Poll indicates.
The Harris Poll found 57 percent of U.S. adult say they believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, down from 60 percent in 2005, and 72 percent say they believe in miracles, down from 79 percent in 2005, while 68 percent say they believe in heaven, down from 75 percent. Sixty-eight percent say they believe Jesus is God or the son of God, down from 72 percent; and 65 percent say they believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, down from 70 percent.
Sixty-four percent say they believe in the survival of the soul after death, down from 69 percent in 2005; 58 percent say they believe in the devil, down from 62 percent; 58 percent say they believe in hell, down from 62 percent.
Forty-seven percent say they believe in Darwin's theory of evolution, compared to 42 percent in 2005.
The survey found 42 percent of adults say they believe in ghosts, 36 percent say they believe in creationism, 36 percent say they believe in UFOs, 29 percent say they believe in astrology, 26 percent say they believe in witches and 24 percent say they believe in reincarnation, or that they were once another person.
Just under 2-in-10 U.S. adults described themselves as very religious, with an additional 4-in-10 describing themselves as somewhat religious down from 49 percent in 2007. Twenty-three percent of Americans identified themselves as not at all religious, nearly double the 12 percent reported in 2007.
The Harris Poll surveyed 2,250 U.S. adults online from Nov. 13-18. No margin of error was provided.
