The Pew forum recently released another series of results on a survey that concludes 70% of Americans believe that religions other than their own can lead to eternal life.
Including atheists.
People surveyed were first asked to state their religion, and then asked if religions and/or belief systems other than their own could lead to eternal life. 65% said yes – that religions other than their own can lead to eternal life. Those people were then asked about specific religions or worldviews. Surprisingly, 42% of those respondents said they believed atheism could lead to eternal life (46% said no, and 12% said they didn’t know). 56% of respondents said that people of “no religious faith” can have eternal life, among others.
What does this mean exactly? Perhaps the respondents wanted to appear more tolerant of other religions and so overstated their belief that other religions can lead to eternal life. Perhaps most of those interviewed honestly believed there was more than one path to salvation, in an attempt to reconcile the dogma of faith with the good deeds of others – they want to believe that people can have eternal life because they are good people and have done good things. If your son or daughter is an atheist, you might choose to believe that as long as they are a good person, they can have eternal life.
Interestingly, the survey also showed that 7% of respondents don’t believe in eternal life, even if they identify themselves as being religious.
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Oh no, I am happy when people correct my writing. I’ve corrected the sentances you mentioned. Thanks!
“People surveyed were first asked their religion, and then asked which other specific religions and belief systems could lead to eternal life. 65% said yes.”These two sentences don’t make much sense. Sorry to correct your writing, but it’s fairly ambiguous to the reader what you mean here.
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