Released: November 5, 2003 The 2004 Political Landscape Evenly
Divided and Increasingly Polarized Part 8: Religion in American
Life America remains an intensely religious nation and, if
anything, the trend since the late 1980s has been toward
stronger religious belief. Eight-in-ten Americans (81%) say that
prayer is an important part of their daily lives, and just as
many believe there will be a Judgment Day when people will be
called before God to answer for their sins. Even more people
(87%) agree with the statement “I never doubt the existence of
God.” Clearly, views on these three statements are highly
related, and when these three questions are combined into a
single indicator of religious intensity, fully 71% agree with
all three statements, while just 7% disagree with all three.
Both of these figures are slightly higher than was the case 16
years ago, when 68% agreed with all three statements, and 5%
disagreed with them all. With more people at each end of the
spectrum, somewhat fewer Americans express