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TechnoratiAlthough 41 percent of Americans believe getting drunk is sinful, only 14 percent believe drinking even a little alcohol is a sin. Gambling is a sin to 30 percent of Americans, but only 18 percent feel this way about playing the lottery. And while 65 percent feel doing hard drugs are a sin, only 41 percent say this about marijuana.
“We can see numerous inconsistent patterns of thought and belief throughout the responses,” Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research, stated. “For instance, over a third of all Americans believe failing to take proper care of their bodies is sinful. Yet far fewer believe tobacco or obesity are sins – even though medical science consistently shows using tobacco and being overweight are two of the most harmful things they can do to their bodies.”
Other inconsistencies highlighted by Sellers include:
• Over four out of 10 evangelicals believe it is a sin not to tithe, but other studies show relatively few evangelicals actually do so
• The Roman Catholic church consistently teaches that sex before marriage, abortion, pornography, and homosexual activity are sins, yet as many as half of all practicing Catholics do not personally define each of these as sinful.
Sellers suggests that religious leaders look at the findings of the study and compare it to their own teachings.
“If your church is teaching that working on the Sabbath is sinful, or that drinking or abortion or gossip are sinful, it’s likely that many of your own people don’t agree with you,” Sellers said.
“Leaders need to understand why this is, so they can figure out how to respond. Rather than just teaching, they need to discuss these issues with people – getting feedback on why so many of their own people differ with them may help them understand how to reach those people more effectively with their teaching,” the Ellison Research president commented.
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