The people have spoken, the results are in. Pluralities or majorities in eighteen of twenty-two countries surveyed for the Pew Global Attitudes Project think that Americans are not religious enough. According to the report “this is especially true in all three Arab nations surveyed—Jordan (89%), Egypt (81%), and Lebanon (64%)—as well as in Indonesia (67%) and Pakistan (55%). Majorities also hold this view in India (57%), Brazil (55%), Mexico (56%), Kenya (53%) and Nigeria (57%).” For that matter, 64 percent of Americans surveyed think that Americans are not religious enough.
While there is general consensus that America should be more religious, I suspect that this reflects nothing more than the general consensus that religion is a good thing and you can’t have too much of it. It would be interesting to know what manifestations of religiosity in American public life the individuals polled in each country were considering when giving their answer. Especially the pluralities in Great Britain, Germany, and Japan and the majority (71%) in France who think that the United States is too religious.
You have a decision to make: double or nothing.
For this week only, a generous supporter has offered to fully match all new and increased donations to First Things up to $60,000.
In other words, your gift of $50 unlocks $100 for First Things, your gift of $100 unlocks $200, and so on, up to a total of $120,000. But if you don’t give, nothing.
So what will it be, dear reader: double, or nothing?
Make your year-end gift go twice as far for First Things by giving now.
