Charting Satan's Comeback
January 1, 2002
Opinions on God and Satan have changed since the attacks on the United States, even if church attendance has not, according to the latest research from George Barna. Prior to the attacks, 38% of respondents said they believed there are "absolute moral truths that do not change according to the circumstances." But in November 2001, two months after the attacks, only 22% claimed to believe in absolute moral truth. More people think Satan is a real being following the attacks, especially women and older adults. In a summer poll, 3-in-10 said Satan was merely symbolic. Now only 2-in-10 deny his existence. Among adults of all ages, only 23% said Satan is not a living being, a five-point change. If Satan is making a comeback, God took a slight hit (in the poll). Fewer men think God is "all—knowing and all—powerful," a decline of six points to 63%. The number of people claiming to have made a "personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in your life today" is unchanged at 68%. Worship attendance is near normal levels again, Barna says. In a summer survey, 42% of respondents reported attending a church service in the previous week. That level in November was 48%, higher than summer attendance, but falling rapidly from the 25% spike immediately after September 11. "It proved the old saying," pastor Rod Loy of First Assembly of God in North Little Rock, Arkansas told USA Today. "People came back to church and rediscovered why they didn't come in the first place." Loy's September boom went bust in October, however, the number of people seeking counseling for depression is up 50%.
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