Ventura, Calif. — Black Americans are the most likely to participate in religious activities such as prayer, Bible reading and worship attendance, compared to other racial and ethnic groups, a survey shows. The Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif.-based consulting firm, found that 91 percent of blacks said they prayed to God in the previous week, compared to 86 percent of Hispanics, 81 percent of whites and 46 percent of Asians.
The results of the research, based on surveys of 2,632 adults in January and May, were released Aug. 10. Fifty-nine percent of blacks said they had read the Bible in the previous week, compared to 39 percent of Hispanics, 36 percent of whites and 20 percent of Asians.
As for religious service attendance, 48 percent of blacks said they had attended a worship service in the previous week, compared to 41 percent of whites, 38 percent of Hispanics and 23 percent of Asians.
African-Americans also were the most likely to strongly agree that the Bible is totally accurate (57 percent) and to strongly disagree that Jesus sinned while on Earth (49 percent).
Asians were most likely to be in the atheist/agnostic category (20 percent) and aligned with a non-Christian faith group (45 percent).
White adults did not stand out as either the highest or lowest group in any of the religious behaviors that were tested.
In general, Hispanics’ religious views were similar to those of whites. But Hispanics were more likely than either blacks or whites to reject the idea that the Holy Spirit is a living presence.
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