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Public confidence in American religious institutions tumbles
2002-177-2
7/11/2002
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[Episcopal News Service]
Public confidence in American religious institutions has dropped dramatically in the last year to its lowest point in the last 30 years, according to a survey by the Gallup Organization.
In its survey, Gallup found that only 45 percent of Americans surveyed had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in religious institutions, a 15 percent drop with a similar survey in 2001 and the lowest percentage since 1973 when the first poll testing public confidence was conducted.
Of the 16 institutions included in the survey, churches and organized religion ranked sixth, behind the military--first with 79 percent, the police, the presidency, the Supreme Court and banks. After religious institutions came the medical system, public schools, television news, newspapers, the U.S. Congress, the criminal justice system, organized labor, big business, Wall Street, and health maintenance organizations.
'There is little question that the sex abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church is the main cause of the drop-off in confidence this year,' said Frank Newport of Gallup. He stressed that the survey had not a question on why participants ranked the institutions as they did but pollsters made a 'strong inference' that the scandal contributed to the results. In the same manner the pollsters said that the terrorist attacks of September 11 were probably the reason the military and the presidency were rated so high.
Newport said that the current mistrust in religious institutions was not a reflection of any loss of religious values or the confidence Americans place in their local churches or clergy. He pointed out that Americans are still among the most religious people in the world, particularly in comparison with people in other Western nations.
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