Curmudgeon's Corner

Easter Reflections

Posted by Al Campbell on April 5, 2010

Potpourri, Quality of Life, U.S.

I made a conscious decision to avoid my computer and the Internet for the entire Easter week-end.  It seemed strange to not be listening for the new e-mail beep or casting a quick glance at the mailbox, or to be thinking of a Blog topic.  My decision was more that of being burned out than simply believing I should be more focused over this particular week-end.  It did, however, help me to better-focus on what Easter is all about according to my personal beliefs.

I am a member of the Shepherd of the Hills congregation in Hubertus, and we moved from our former sanctuary to our new sanctuary over this Easter week-end.  That seemed a most fitting additional blessing at this time of year from a personal perspective.

As I reviewed my accumulated e-mails this morning, I noted with interest the Rasmussen Report from Sunday which featured that organization’s polling results concerning Americans, in general, and professed Christians in particular.  I was quite surprised at the results that had emerged from its nationwide telephone polling effort on this subject.

Based upon this particular poll, 78% of Americans believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead.  Just 10% do not believe that Christ rose from the dead, and another 11% are not sure.  I was surprised since organized religion seems to always struggle to attract members and to grow in numbers; this poll seemed to be saying there are quite a number who do not have a church-based belief system but who are believers.

Among Americans who rarely or never attend church, 46% believe that Jesus rose from the dead; 52% think he is the son of God and 67% say he walked on the Earth.  These numbers had reduced slightly from a similar poll last year.

The group of Christians calling themselves Evangelical Christians had higher percentages as might be suspected.  They polled at 96% who believe that Jesus walked the Earth, compared to 92% of Catholics and 89% of other Protestants.

The fact that these were telephone conversations may lead us to suspect more honest or less honest answers; I tend to think these answers might have been more honest given anonymity.  Additionally, I would expect that current events would tend to flavor the results, since people might tend to be more or less regular church-goers simply based on what is occurring around them.