Thanksgiving Survey – ChurchEdge

Here are selected findings on attitudes toward Thanksgiving from a survey of 1,005 adult Americans conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University:

“The holiday season is coming up. Do you and your family usually have a special gathering for a meal at Thanksgiving?”
Yes ………………………………92 percent
No ………………………………. 8

“Do you normally say a special grace of thanksgiving at this meal?”
Yes ………………………………83
No ……………………………….17

“This is a tough question, but give me your best answer. Do you think God has given special blessings to the United States?”
Yes ………………………………62
No ……………………………….33
Don’t Know ……………………….. 5

“Did God help America become a free and secure nation?”
Yes ………………………………65
No ……………………………….28
Don’t Know ……………………….. 7

“Did God help America become a wealthy nation?”
Yes ………………………………46
No ……………………………….45
Don’t Know ……………………….. 9

(Source: Survey of 1,005 adult residents of the United States interviewed by telephone from Oct. 15-27 in a poll sponsored by Scripps Howard News Service and the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.)
© 2000 Scripps Howard News Service. All Rights Reserved.

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Americans see special blessings

As Americans settle down for their annual Thanksgiving meal, two-thirds of them believe God has given special blessings to the United States and that divine intervention has helped the nation become free and secure. But the nation is more divided on the question of whether God is responsible for America’s wealth, according to a poll of 1,005 adults conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University.

“What is the one thing that all faith traditions throughout the world have in common? A notion of thanksgiving and gratitude,” said Nickie Murchison, executive director at the Center for World Thanksgiving in Dallas.

Her foundation is affiliated with the United Nations and dedicated to spreading gratitude throughout the world. Staff at the center have authored the official White House Thanksgiving Proclamation every year since Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

“This is a time connected with gratitude that usually means that a higher power, meaning God, is revered. It is a big deal in about 40 nations where thanks are given during the time of harvest when crops of wheat and rice are gathered,” she said.

The survey found Thanksgiving is America’s most universally celebrated holiday, with 92 percent planning a special family gathering. That is a higher percentage of observance than for Christmas or the Fourth of July, according to previous polls.

Observance of the holiday transcends religion. The survey found people who have not attended religious services recently are as likely to celebrate Thanksgiving as are those who have gone to a church, mosque or synagogue lately.

People who said they have no religious preference are as likely to participate in the holiday as are Protestants, Catholics, Muslims and Jews.

Eighty-three percent said they normally “say a special grace of thanksgiving” at the beginning of the Thanksgiving meal, although that figure drops significantly among those who are not aligned with an established religion.

Sixty-two percent said they believe that “God has given special blessings to the United States” and 65 percent believe that God helped “America become a free and secure nation.”

Forty-six percent believe heaven helped America “become a wealthy nation,” while 45 percent doubt this and 9 percent are uncertain. America’s affluence has been an issue over which recent presidents have wrestled.

“We know that we already enjoy progress without precedent,” President Dwight Eisenhower said in 1956. “Our anxiety to achieve still more is equaled only by our thanksgiving to God for the wisdom, the skills, the industry and the resources that make us, today, the most fortunate people on earth.”

President Clinton, in his 1999 Thanksgiving proclamation, noted that the holiday is more than 350 years old, dating to the survivors of Plymouth Colony who set aside three days for gratitude “to a merciful God for a sustaining harvest.

“But the spirit of Thanksgiving requires more than just an acknowledgement of our blessings. It calls upon us to reach out and share those blessings with others,” Clinton said.

Murchison said she is not surprised that Americans draw a distinction between divine blessings upon a nation and the nation’s material prosperity. “Material wealth does not mean that someone has spiritual wealth. This is a common theme throughout the world’s religions,” she said.

The survey found considerable differences among different groups of Americans over the question of whether they believe God has specially blessed the United States. Affluent and well-educated people were less likely than others to say they believe this, yet about half of these adults say they believe a divine providence is aiding the nation.

Parents, Southerners, the elderly, residents of small cities or rural areas, racial minorities, self identified conservatives and people in economically disadvantaged households were especially likely to believe in divine blessings on the nation.

Less than half of self-described liberals, people with no religious preferences, or those who have post-graduate education believe that God has intervened in America’s behalf.

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The survey was conducted by telephone Oct. 15-27, 2000, among 1,005 adult residents living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Households were selected at random by computer.

The poll was sponsored by Scripps Howard News Service and the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. It was conducted at the College of Communication’s Scripps Survey Research Center under the direction of Journalism Professor Thomas Hodges.

A survey of this type has a margin of error of 4 percent, although the margin rises when examining subgroups within the poll. For example, the margin of error rose to 9 percent on the question of attitudes of Thanksgiving among Americans who have no formal religious affiliation.