Society in the United States has undergone major change, and it has accelerated over the past three years. The slight majority harbors doubts about the existence of God, but a very clear majority practices prayer.
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Apparent discrepancy between faith and prayer
A phenomenon was discovered in the USA that, at first glance, could not be fully explained. Less than half of adults in the United States believe in God without a shadow of a doubt or attend church services particularly often. But almost 80 percent of adults in the United States hold fast to prayer. This somewhat strange result comes from a study carried out at the University of Chicago. The data comes from the “General Social Survey” from 2022, which has been conducted nationwide every two years since 1972 by the research organization NORC at the University of Chicago.
According to one partial result of this study, there is a massive change in society. The past three years have seen the United States undergo great trials and changes. This must be taken into account in order to understand this societal change, according to Deputy Director of Methodology and Quantitative Social Sciences at NORC, René Bautista.
Belief in little fat children’s angels can be safely dropped
According to the results of the study, 49.6 percent of those questioned stated that they believed in God “without a doubt”. Around 16.4 percent stated that they had “doubts about God in faith”. “Sometimes believe” 5.4 percent of respondents and 14.4 percent said they believe in a “higher power”. 7.5 percent “don’t know and see no way of finding out”. Only 6.8 percent stated that they “don’t believe in God”.
On the subject of rebirth, around 61.7 percent stated that they had never experienced “a turning point in life” after “committing themselves to Christ”. 38.3 percent answered yes to this question.
About 61.6 percent of respondents answered “no” when asked if they had ever tried to persuade others to believe in Jesus Christ or to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. 38.4 percent of the adults surveyed answered “yes”.
The answers to the question about how often people prayed were very mixed. 29.6 percent said they pray “several times a day”. 19.5 percent pray “once a day”. 11.8 percent pray “several times a week” and 5.4 percent pray “once a week”. 12.9 percent pray “less than once a week” and 20.9 percent pray “never”.
The bottom line is that just over half of those surveyed have at least doubts about God, but almost 80 percent pray.
Little is left of Protestantism
Originally founded under Protestant principles, the country has undergone a truly miraculous transformation. The drift away from the gospel led more people into practiced atheism, as is the case in the once thoroughly Protestant countries of Europe. Sweden once defended Protestantism with the sword – probably also for “geopolitical interests” – and today the country is one of the most secular states in the world. In the Czech Republic, once the home of the early Protestants and murdered in Konstanz on behalf of the Catholic Church in 1415, Jan Hus (Hussites), Protestant church life was put to an end by the communism that had prevailed for decades.
The prayer ‘when in doubt’ or to the wrong address
However, the official dissolution of Protestantism on October 31, 2017, was not enough. What the once evangelical churches and their leaders have known for a long time must also be taught to the people. The lockout from the places of worship due to the politically prescribed corona measures had welcome side effects in this regard. Many “believers” still stay away from their churches today.
The ratio between more than half of those who have at least doubts and almost 80 percent of those who pray raises whether the prayers are largely based on the motto “maybe it will help after all” or whether a false god is being addressed due to a certain lack of orientation. It should probably be somewhere in the middle of both possibilities.
Disoriented people are easy to catch
It is a question of the majority of people who have not only strayed from the gospel, but who possibly no longer have the right idea. What a way to present these people with a suitable and also satisfying substitute religion. This pseudo-gospel promises stability and security.
It “only” needs one or the other (provoked?) inconvenience in life, and people will be all the more receptive to the “saving hand”. For example, a human family united in “fraternity” in the jointly integrated fight “against climate change” and for the “protection of Mother Earth” would be suitable. Creation must be preserved, according to the credo, serving the common good. The sun, which is considered a symbol of life, shines almost every day anyway and may also be worshiped and possibly worshiped. How this should happen is determined by the moral forge in Rome and its top bridge builder.
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