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Among Christians, believing in God tops the list, with fully 86% saying belief in God is “essential” to their Christian identity. Far fewer say that attending religious services (35%), dressing modestly (26%), working to protect the environment (22%) or resting on the Sabbath (18%) are essential to what being Christian means to them, personally. In addition, roughly seven-in-ten Christians say being grateful for what they have (71%), forgiving those who have wronged them (69%) and always being honest (67%) are essential to being Christian. The survey posed similar questions to members of non-Christian faiths and religiously unaffiliated Americans (sometimes called religious “nones”), asking whether various behaviors are essential to “what being a moral person means to you.”3 Among the unaffiliated, honesty (58%) and gratitude (53%) are the attributes most commonly seen as essential to being a moral person. A relative handful of Americans (14%) think that religious faith in their country has weakened as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Two exceptional cases in this survey are Italy and South Korea, where women are more likely than men to report that their faith has been bolstered by the pandemic. People with less education are significantly more likely than those with a secondary education or higher to say their personal religious faith has deepened in five of the countries surveyed: Spain (those with less education are 11 points more likely to say this), Italy (8 points), the U.S.
And in other countries surveyed, one-in-ten or fewer report deeper faith due to the coronavirus outbreak. By contrast, only about two-in-ten in Germany, Japan and South Korea say they now have deeper relationships with their family. However, 20% of unaffiliated people say they see deeper religious faith among Americans in general. Nearly half (49%) say their own religious faith has grown, while 43% say the same about the faith of Americans as a whole. The survey also asked people if the strength of religious faith in their country as a whole has changed due to the pandemic. Spain, where people at or below the national median income are 12 percentage points more likely than the rest of the population to say their religious faith has become stronger. In Sweden, 15% say the religious faith in their country is stronger, compared with 3% who say they themselves have experienced stronger religious faith. The KRG admits that its religious tolerance stems from a long history of suffering at the hands of “Islamic brothers.” Both their suffering, as well as their rich history have made Kurds particularly welcoming of other religions. To the water deities was directed a special cult peculiar to Chichén Itzá: on certain occasions, human beings were thrown into the sacred cenote (natural well) and drowned to appease the rain gods or to act as intermediaries between them and men.
Similar age gaps appear in Spain and Belgium (both 20 points), as well as Australia and Sweden (13 points). The findings, reported in the journal Psychological Science, suggest that a religious person would get a happiness boost in devout Turkey, but see no benefits in secular Sweden. Get Great Benefits For Your Life! Servants of Brahma (brahma parisajja deva), Ministers of Brahma (brahma purohita deva), Great Brahmas (maha brahma), Brahmas of Small Radiance (parittabha deva), Brahmas of Infinitive Radiance (appamanabha deva), Brahmas of Streaming Radiance (abhassara deva), Brahmas of Small Glory (parittasubha deva), Brahmas of Infinitive Glory (appamanasubha deva), Brahmas of Refulgent Glory (subhakinna deva), Brahmas of Very Fruitful (vehapphala deva), Brahmas of not Falling Away (aviha deva), Untroubled Brahmas (atappa deva), Beautiful Brahmas (sudassa deva), Clear-sighted Brahmas (sudassi deva), Brahmas of Non-junior (akanittha deva), Infinite Space (akasanañcayatanupaga deva), Infinite Consciousness (viññanañcayatanupaga deva), Unconscious beings (asaññasatta), Nothingness (akiñcaññayatanupaga deva), Neither-perception-nor-non-perception (nevasaññanasaññayatanupaga deva). A 14-country median of 66% say the religious faith of people in their country is about the same as before the pandemic, while 15% say faith in their country has become stronger and 8% say it has become weaker. Majorities in nearly every country surveyed say that the religious faith of people in their country has not changed much as a result of the pandemic.
Humanity fell from grace in the Garden of Eden, but rather than return to an unchanging state, humanity’s goal is to become more and more perfect, more like God, even though humanity will never understand, much less attain, God’s transcendence. Majorities in 11 countries say the coronavirus outbreak has not changed their relationship to immediate family much. The only countries that have a Shiite majority in the Middle East are Iran, Iraq and the Gulf island state of Bahrain. Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of the graphic with this story incorrectly identified Bahrain’s Sunni and Shiite population. In the U.S. and in several other countries, younger adults are especially likely to say they feel a stronger bond with immediate family members since the start of the pandemic. Three-in-ten U.S. Catholics say Americans’ religious faith has strengthened, while roughly a third report that their own religious faith has become stronger.