Easter is the major Christian festival. People flock to churches clad in the colors of Spring to hear the story of Jesus' resurrection one more time. And amid the crowded pews are numerous folks who haven't been in church since the previous Easter. Easter beckons and the more or less faithful respond.Or do they? An AOL poll consisting of 5,019 respondents showed that 45% planned to attend Easter services. Forty three percent said they did not plan to attend Easter services. Twelve percent said they don't celebrate Easter. [That's about what I would expect, as over the years I've found that AOL attracts a more conservative following than other agencies.]
Our local Central Florida paper showed a dramatically different picture; a very surprising picture when you consider we have a church on every corner and on a few blocks there are several in between.
This poll of 356 respondents indicated that only 36.8% planned to attend Easter services, while 63.2% said they did not plan to attend.
I have no clue as to the validity or reliability of either of these polls. But they are interesting. In what the Christian Right likes to call a "Christian" country, not even half of the population can be bothered to celebrate their god's resurrection and promise of salvation.
2 comments:
Not fair--I'm sure those people who make it to church for Easter also do for Christmas! :-)
Also, noteable, my church is preaching against institutional religion; on Easter morning, we watched as youth performed a "live video" about the biggest obstacle individuals face in having a meaningful relationship with Christ: the church.
Ironic--wasn't it?
The numbers and percentage of unaffiliated with ANY religion has grown enormously! That does not mean all those people do not have some belief in God. It does mean they object to organized religion. There was a large number tht also have switched from on denomination to another within all religions. Times, they are a changing.
Bob Poris
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