“We are a religious people,” wrote Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, and research appears to support his observation.

Ninety-four percent of adult Americans claim a belief in God; 89 percent pray, 75 percent believe in an afterlife, 69 percent belong to a church and 41 percent attend church weekly.

Most people become religious because of some lack in their lives. Either they are struggling with a problem or feel a need for spiritual growth.

The older people become, the more religious they tend to be. This is because they experience more tragedies and begin to face death.

Psychologists who have studied religious behavior have found there are two types of religious people — called intrinsic and extrinsic — in any church. Intrinsically religious people are fewer in number but have a strong, positive, loving faith commitment. They are more unselfish, humanitarian and dedicated to actualizing their beliefs.

Extrinsically religious persons, by contrast, tend to have a shallower faith, are more cliquish, attend church for social or personally useful reasons and derive less comfort from their faith. Research has also found them to be more prejudiced than either intrinsically religious persons or non-churchgoers.

Thirty to 40 percent of people surveyed claim they have had a mystical experience, and that the experience was positive and beneficial. Again, it occurs more often to intrinsically religious and nonreligious people than extrinsically religious people.

Members of Congress express more religious convictions than the general public, and their beliefs do influence how they vote. It is not the church to which they belong however, that determines their political positions but their views of religion. Those who think of religion more in terms of personal, individual salvation vote more conservatively, while those who think of religion more in terms of helping others are more liberal in their voting behavior.

Over one-third of the clergy surveyed in one study claimed they have never given a sermon on a political issue. Either they don’t believe it is their function to do so or they are afraid to alienate some members of their congregations.

The effects of religious beliefs on mental health can be positive or negative. Belief in a loving, forgiving God, and in an afterlife, can be comforting, uplifting thoughts. However, belief in personal sin and damnation can be depressing and guilt-producing.

A shared religious orientation benefits most marriages as it gives spouses a common ground and encourages the selflessness important in successful family life. Parents who struggle to get their children to attend church regularly will be glad to know that most children remain in the denomination in which they were raised when they reach adulthood.

The article above was found on Google and was published originally on Helena Independent Record