Me Thinks

This headline on pewforum.org caught my eye:

More Americans Than People in Other Advanced Economies Say COVID-19 Has Strengthened Religious Faith

Nearly three-in-ten U.S. adults say the outbreak has boosted their faith; about four-in-ten say it has tightened family bonds.(January 27, 2021)

 

Here are three highlights of the research study:

Nearly three-in-ten Americans (28%) report stronger personal faith because of the pandemic, and the same share think the religious faith of Americans overall has strengthened, according to the survey of 14 economically developed countries.

 

The United States recently has experienced some trends toward secularization, including a growing share of the population that does not identify with any religion and a shrinking share of people who say they regularly attend a church or other house of worship. Still, religion continues to play a stronger role in American life than in many other economically developed countries. For example, nearly half of Americans (49%) say religion is very important in their lives, compared with 20% in Australia, 17% in South Korea and just 9% in Japan.

 

In 11 of 14 countries surveyed, the share who say their religious faith has strengthened is higher than the share who say it has weakened. But generally, people in developed countries don’t see much change in their own religious faith as a result of the pandemic.

 

  

The research surprises me in that I would have thought more Americans, like 6 out of 10, would have felt their faith strengthened during the Pandemic, not three out of 10.