Poll: One in 10 Americans have religious objections to Halloween

About one in 10 Americans have religious objections to Halloween, a 2006 Gallup Panel survey showed.
Eleven percent of Americans say they personally have objections on religious grounds to celebrating the holiday. The vast majority — 89 percent — does not have such objections to the day marked by trick-or-treaters going door to door.

In general, Americans who attend religious services often are not as inclined to take part in Halloween activities as those who attend less frequently.
For example, 54 percent of those who attend services weekly say they pass out treats to children at their door on Halloween, compared to 72 percent of those who attend nearly weekly or monthly and 67 percent of those who attend seldom or never.

Likewise 35 percent of weekly attendees display Halloween decorations in their yard or home, compared to 47 percent of those who attend nearly weekly or monthly and the same percentage who attend seldom or never.
Researchers found there was not much difference between the decisions of frequent and infrequent churchgoers to wear a costume, attend a Halloween party or visit a haunted house.
The study was based on nationwide telephone interviews over a four-day period in October 2006 with 1,001 adults and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Respondents were randomly drawn from the Gallup Organization’s nationally representative household panel, which was originally recruited through random selection.   (RNS)