Republicans and conservative Christians are the most likely Americans to believe in the devil, according to a Gallup report.
Belief in the lord of the underworld roughly mirrors the country’s general religious profile, yet the devil transcends categories that typically determine religious attitudes, such as age, religiosity and education.
A full 68 percent of Americans believe in the devil, while 20 percent do not and 12 percent are unsure, according to the May 2001 poll that was released Tuesday (Feb. 25). In 1999, 85.5 percent of Americans told Gallup they believe in God.
Seventy percent of Catholics believe in the devil, compared to 79 percent of Protestants and 83 percent of self-identified members of the religious right.
Republicans, at 79 percent, are the most likely to believe in the devil, compared with 67 percent of Democrats and 59 percent of independents.
Southerners are the most likely to believe, at 79 percent, followed by Westerners at 69 percent, Midwesterners at 64 percent and East Coast residents at 56 percent. The devil has found the strongest belief among rural Americans-78 percent- compared to 64 percent of suburbanites and 66 percent of urban dwellers.
Across age and education, however, belief in the devil varies less. Seventy percent of adults ages 30-64 said the devil is real, along with 66 percent of adults ages 18-19. Similarly, 70 percent of high school graduates say the devil is real along with 68 percent of college graduates. Fifty-five percent of people with postgraduate degrees also believe.
“Religion has ceded its civil authority, and religiosity has declined somewhat in American society. So we might expect belief in the devil to have largely evaporated,” said Gallup contributing editor Robinson. “It hasn’t. Regardless of political belief, religious inclination, education or region, most Americans believe that the devil exists.”
The telephone poll of 1,012 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
(RNS)
Share with others: