>On Sun, 28 Dec 2003, Timothy Francis-Wright wrote:
>
>> For what it's worth, a 2000 survey
>> (http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=32) reports that
>> 45% of respondents attend church at least once per week
>
>If 45% attend at least once per week, I'll bet 40% are once a
>weekers and 5% are more.
Not so extreme, but once-a-weekers far outnumber those who attend religious services more than once a week, and the latter are still a small minority among the registered voters (to say nothing of the total US population):
***** Pew Research Center for the People & the Press Survey Reports Religion and Politics: the Ambivalent Majority Released: September 20, 2000 . . .
PEW RESEARCH CENTER FOR THE PEOPLE & THE PRESS CAMPAIGN 2000 TYPOLOGY SURVEY FINAL TOPLINE August 24 - September 10, 2000 N = 2,799 General Public N = 1,999 Registered Voters NOTE: ALL NUMBERS IN SURVEY, INCLUDING TREND FIGURES, ARE BASED ON REGISTERED VOTERS EXCEPT WHERE NOTED . . .
. . . Q.37 Aside from weddings and funerals how often do you attend religious services... more than once a week, once a week, once or twice a month, a few times a year, seldom, or never?
June 1997 June 1996
17 More than once a week 13 15
28 Once a week 29 28
16 Once or twice a month 17 17
17 A few times a year 19 20
13 Seldom 13 12
8 Never 9 7
1 Don't know/Refused * 1
100 100 100
<http://people-press.org/reports/print.php3?ReportID=32> *****
***** EARLY VOTING INTENTIONS . . .
The Electoral Landscape, 2000 vs. 2003
2000 VNS Sept-Oct*
Exit Poll Reg Voters
Bush Gore Bush Dem N TOTAL 50 50 50 50 1997
Church Attend More than 1/wk 64 36 63 37 319 1/week 59 41 56 44 565 1-2/month 47 53 52 48 285 1-2/year 44 56 46 54 363 Seldom/Never 34 66 38 62 442
For ease of comparison, figures have been repercentaged based on those with a preference between the Democratic and Republican candidates. In the 2000 exit polls, 48% reported voting for Bush and Gore, with 4% choosing another candidate or not voting in the Presidential race. In the Sept-Oct 2003 surveys, 43% favor Bush, 43% favor a Democrat, and 14% favor someone else or are undecided.
<http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/196.pdf> *****
In any case, the survey trends on the religious front (according to the Pew Research Center) tell us that Democrats have actually made marginal gains among both those who attend religious services "once a week" (up 3%) and "more than once a week" (up 1%). The real news (if there is any news here, that is, despite the small changes) is that Democrats have lost chunks of more secular voters (5% of "1-2/month," 2% of "1-2/year," and 4% of "Seldom/Never"), experiencing a reversal in the "1-2/month" category (though the most secular voters continue to support the Democratic Party). -- Yoshie
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