This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Sept. 20, 2011 - Should the government help people in these tough financial times? A poll by the Gallup Organization released Tuesday morning shows that people who strongly believe that God has a plan for them are less willing than others to have the government send checks to able-bodied, unemployed Americans.
The poll was made for a Baylor University study: "The Values and Beliefs of the American Public."
About 73 percent of those polled said they believe God has a plan for them. And 40.9 percent of the people polled said they "strongly" believed that. Those who "strongly agree" that God has a plan for them are the most likely to believe that the United States' economic system has too much government intervention, said Paul Froese, a Baylor University sociology professor and researcher at the university's Institute for Studies of Religion.
Of those who "strongly disagree" that God has a plan for them, only 21.1 percent think that able-bodied people who are unemployed should not get government checks. Those polled who held that opinion about cutting off unemployment checks tended to be in lower income brackets. It was a random national sample of 1,714 individuals amd dealt with issues that are likely to play a part in the 2012 presidential election campaigns.
The "strongly" agree group have lower levels of education and make less money that those in the other three groups. It is also the largest of four segments in their personal view of God's plan for them, The other three groups are those (32.1 percent) who simply "agree" that God has a plan for them; those (12.3 percent) who don't believe that God has a plan for them; and, those (14.6 percent) who "strongly" disagree that God has no plan for them.
The majority, about 63 percent of those who "strongly agree" that God has a plan, says that the U.S. government does too much, while about 44 percent of those who simply "agree" that God has a plan think the government does too much.
Even though they earn less, about 54 percent of those who strongly believe in God's plan for them say that "anything is possible for those who work hard." This group also more strongly believes that some people are meant to be poor and some people are meant to be rich. In contrast, only 21.5 percent of those who strongly disagree that God has a plan for them, believe that anything is possible for those who work hard.
The new poll is the third of Baylor working with Gallup to examine the relationship between Americans' religiosity and attitudes. The poll was conducted last fall.
Polls results are being made public this morning. Three Baylor sociology researchers spoke at the annual meeting of the Religion Newswriters Association in Durham, N.C., late Saturday afternoon with reporting embargoed until Tuesday.
In other questions on work attitudes, the poll found that more than one-third of Americans routinely pursue excellence in work because of their faith in God, Kevin Dougherty, a Baylor sociology professor and research fellow at its Institute for Studies of Religion said.
Those who attend religious services regularly and those who take a literal view of the Bibles are most likely to attribute religious significant to their work. Women are 10 percent more likely than men to do this, the poll shows. And residents of the Midwest and South are more likely than those who live elsewhere in the country.
Emphasis on getting involved in business is more evident in African-American churches and in some evangelical churches with more than 2,000 members. About 42 percent of those polled who attend African-American churches said that their pastor or congregations encouraged them to start a business. About 35 percent of those who attend mega-churches said their congregation encouraged them to start a business.
Americans changing views of homosexuality also show in the poll. Those polled overwhelming supported equal employment opportunities for gays and lesbians and a majority support same sex civil unions.
Of those unaffiliated with any faith, about 92 percent supported such civil unions. Among church goers, Catholics were first in support with 64 percent. Mainline Protestants followed with 61 percent supporting, and nearly 59 percent of evangelical Protestants gave the issue support. The least supportive religious group polled on the issue were Black Protestants with only 52 percent supporting it.
All five of the same clusters are less supportive of same-sex marriage. The breakdown on support was 88 percent from unaffiliated with any religion, 45 percent from Catholics, 43 percent of African-American Protestants, 40 percent of mainline Protestants and about 37 percent of evangelical Protestants.
However, those polled who have a college education -- compared to those with less than a college degree -- are more likely to support same-sex marriage, same-sex civil unions, oppose a national gay marriage ban and support adoption by same sex couples. Those polled who believe that homosexuality is a choice are more likely to oppose same sex marriage and same-sex civil unions.
Gallup did random phone interviews, then mailed a 75-question form. Inquires about Americans' mental health were in the mailed questionnaire.
Those polled who attend worship services, pray and read religious texts frequently worry less. The 11 percent polled who said that they had been sad or depressed for more than 10 days in the previous month were less likely to attend services, pray or read religious texts than those who were not depressed. The Baylor mental health poll's findings are similar to other Gallup polls about religion and mental health.
Patricia Rice is a free-lance writer who has long covered religion.