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Three in Five Adults Are Absolutely Certain There Is a God

Men, people under 40, college graduates and Jews are less likely to be certain
New York, N.Y. December 16, 2009 A recent Harris Poll found that 82% of American adults believe in God. However, when asked how certain they were, only 59% are absolutely certain that there is a God, and another 15% say they are somewhat certain. This is one of the findings of The Harris Poll of 2,303 adults surveyed online between November 2 and 11, 2009 by Harris Interactive. This Harris Poll finds that the groups that are most likely to be absolutely certain there is a God are born-again Christians (87%), Protestants generally (76%), Republicans (72%), people in the South (69%), blacks (67%), and women (66%). Those who are most likely to be either absolutely or somewhat certain there is no God, or to be unsure, are Jews (34%), people aged 25-29 (43%) and 30-39 (35%), college graduates (36%), post-graduates (34%), men (33%), and people on the coasts 33% in the East, and 34% in the West .

Gods gender
There is no consensus on whether God is a man or a woman. Just over a third of all adults (38%) think he is a man, while less than 1% believes she is a woman. However, many people believe God is neither male nor female (34%) or both male and female (11%). Surprisingly perhaps, more women (44%) than men (32%) believe God is a man.

Gods control over the Earth

There is also no consensus on how much control, if any, God has over what happens on Earth. A 43% plurality believes that God observes but does not control what happens on Earth. Thirty percent believe that God controls what happens, and this includes most (59%) born-again Christians.

A Note on the Methodology Used and How It Affects the Results

Other research has shown that when replying to a question administered impersonally by a computer, people are less likely to say they believe in God, or attend Church services, when they really do not. It is generally believed that surveys conducted by live interviewers tend to exaggerate the numbers of people who report the socially desirable, or less embarrassing, behavior, and that the replies given to an online survey such as this, are more honest and therefore more accurate.

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TABLE 1 BELIEF IN GOD AND CERTAINTY OF BELIEF Are you? Base: All Adults Religious Affiliation 2003 % 79 2006 % 73 2009 % 74 Catholic % 87 67 19 6 2 3 7 Protestant % 90 76 15 5 3 2 4 Jewish % 66 38 29 11 8 2 23 Born Again Christian % 91 87 4 8 2 6 2

Certain there is a God (NET) Absolutely certain that there is 66 58 59 a God Somewhat certain that there is 12 15 15 a God Believe there is no God (NET) 9 11 13 Somewhat certain that there is 5 6 6 no God Absolutely certain that there is 4 6 7 no God Not sure whether or not there is 12 16 13 a God Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 2 DEMOGRAPHIC VARIATIONS IN CERTAINTY THAT THERE IS A GOD Are you absolutely/somewhat certain that there is a God, somewhat/absolutely certain that there is no God? Base: All Adults Absolutely Or Absolutely Certain Somewhat Certain All Adults % 74 59 Region East % 67 51 Midwest % 78 58 South % 82 69 West % 66 52 Age 18 24 % 72 55 25 29 % 57 43 30 39 % 65 52 40 49 % 77 63 50 64 % 79 63 65 and over % 82 64 Sex Male % 67 51 Female % 81 66 Race/Ethnicity White % 74 58 Black % 75 67 Hispanic % 76 59 Party Republican % 85 72 Democrat % 71 53 Independent % 72 54 Education High school or less % 78 61 Some college % 77 63 College graduate % 64 51 Post graduate % 66 48 Religion Catholic % 87 67 Protestant % 90 76 Jewish % 66 38 Born Again Christian % 91 87

TABLE 3 GENDER OF GOD If there is a God, do you think of God as male or female or neither? Base: All Adults All Adults 2003 2006 2009 Male Sex Female Catholic Religious Affiliation Protestant Jewish % 27 3 49 8 3 Born Again Christian % 56 1 32 8 *

% % % % % % % Male 42 36 38 32 44 36 55 Female 1 1 1 * 2 1 2 Neither male or female 38 37 34 40 30 41 30 Both male and female 11 10 11 11 12 13 8 Do not believe in God/Not sure 9 17 15 17 14 1 2 Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding. * indicates less than 0.5% TABLE 4 GODS CONTROL OVER EARTH Do you think God? Base: All Adults All Adults 2003 2006 2009 % 30 43 8 19 Catholic % 19 62 7 *

Religious Affiliation Protestant % 43 40 4 2 Jewish % 34 35 16 3 Born Again Christian % 59 35 1 *

% % Controls what happens on Earth 29 29 Observes but does not control what happens 50 44 on Earth Neither observes nor controls what happens 6 8 on Earth Do not believe in God/Not Sure 15 18 Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.

Methodology
This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States November 2 and 11, 2009 among 2,303 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents propensity to be online. All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words margin of error as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive. J37281 Q708, 715, 720
The Harris Poll #142, December 17, 2009 By Humphrey Taylor, Chairman, The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive

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