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Pew Research finds: Coronavirus religious bump: More Americans praying

Pew surveyed  11,537 U.S. adults between March 19-24. It also found that nearly nine-in-ten U.S. adults say their life has changed at least a little as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, including 44% who say their life has changed in a major way. Also, more than half of adults in the United States — 55% — say they have prayed for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

 

Pew said that large majorities of Americans who pray daily (86%) and of U.S. Christians (73%) have taken to prayer during the outbreak. So have some who say they seldom or never pray and people who say they do not belong to any religion (15% and 24%, respectively).

Among U.S. adults who said in an earlier survey they attend religious services at least once or twice a month, most (59%) now say they have scaled back their attendance because of the pandemic. Most houses of worship have canceled services in the U.S., responding to public officials urging that social distancing measures be implemented.

“But this does not mean religious people have disengaged from collective worship entirely,” Pew pointed out. “A similar share (57%) reports having watched religious services online or on TV instead of attending in person. Together, four-in-ten regular worshipers appear to have replaced in-person attendance with virtual worship (saying that they have been attending less often but watching online instead).”

44% of Americans claimed their life has changed in a major way. Pew Research said:

About nine-in-ten U.S. adults (91%) say that, given the current situation, they would feel uncomfortable attending a crowded party. Roughly three-quarters (77%) would not want to eat out at a restaurant. In the midst of a presidential election year, about two-thirds (66%) say they wouldn’t feel comfortable going to a polling place to vote. And smaller but still substantial shares express discomfort even with going to the grocery store (42%) or visiting with a close friend or family member in their home (38%).

Regarding American religious attitudes in the time of pandemic, Pew found that evangelical Protestants are among the most likely to say they have prayed for an end to the virus (82% say they’ve done so). A similar share of adherents of the historically black Protestant tradition (79%) say they have done the same. Two-thirds of Catholics (68%) and mainline Protestants (65%) also say they have prayed for an end to the outbreak.

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