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"Poll Links Faith, Happiness"

("The Washington Post," May 4, 2003) 

Despite increased tensions on the world stage and a faltering U.S. economy, nine of 10 Americans are happy with their lives and say their religious faith has a lot to do with it, according to a Barna Research poll.

Those with an active Christian faith -- who attend church, read the Bible and pray during a typical week -- were more likely than other adults to say that they are very happy with their lives, that their faith is growing deeper and that they are in excellent physical condition.

Respondents in the "nonfaith" group were least likely to feel very happy or connected with others and most likely to feel that their lives are increasingly stressful and complex, the study says. Non-practicing Christians and adults affiliated with other faith groups fell between those two extremes on the happiness scale.

But George Barna, who directed the study and provided an analysis, pointed out that many of the happy respondents also are the most affluent and that happiness doesn't mean that religion is being practiced properly, especially a Christian faith that puts service to God before material comforts.

A Closer Look at 'Secularists'

Meanwhile, another perennial observer of religious practice, the Gallup Organization, found that 10 percent of Americans say they follow no religion and that those respondents tend to be young, liberal and live on the West Coast.

The so-called secularists, while "being detached from the religious process, are also apparently more likely to be detached from other American institutions such as marriage and the political process," Gallup reported.

While 69 percent of secularists are registered to vote, that figure is smaller than the 83 percent registration rate among Americans who claim a religious preference. The percentage of secularists who are unmarried and living with a partner -- 12 percent -- is double that for religious Americans.

Secularists are also younger than religious Americans, the polling group said after analyzing several general-interest surveys conducted last year. Participants between the ages of 18 and 29 are four times as likely as those older than 65 to be secularists, and twice as likely as those between the ages of 50 and 64. The western United States -- particularly Oregon and California -- has a larger percentage of residents identifying themselves as secularists (15 percent) than other parts of the country (typically less than 10 percent).

About 1 percent of Americans describe themselves as atheists or agnostics, the study said.