methodist - 7%
mormon - 4%
baptist - 2%
lutheran - 7%
united church of christ - 13%
catholic - 5%
episcopalian - 9%
buddhist - 20%
muslim - 9%
no religion - 18%
all american adults - 6%

source. i’m struck that muslims seem a “bimodal” community. episcopalians have the same numbers of “doubters,” but for agree somewhat category they have 14%, and agree strongly 59%. for muslims the numbers are 14% and 72%.

hypothesis: there isn’t a uniform distribution of religious intensity among american muslims, rather, the data suggest a compound of two principle components, religious and sociocultural identity. this explains the relatively high number of atheists among american muslims (5%).

importance of religion in one’s life - very important
national : 59%
muslims : 72%

frequency of attendance at religious services - more than once a week
national: 15%
muslims: 17%

frequency of prayer - day
national: 58%
muslims: 71%

frequency of receiving answers to prayers - at least once a week
national: 19%
muslims: 31%

literal interp. of scriptures - word of god, literally true word for word
national - 33%
muslims - 50%

interp. religious teachings - there is ONE true way to interpret teachings of my religion
national - 27%
muslims - 33%

views of one’s religion as one true faith -my religion is the one, true faith leading to eternal life
national - 25%
muslims - 33%

Belief in God or Universal Spirit - Do not believe in god

evangelical xtian - 0%
mainline xtian - 1%
historically black denom - 0%
catholics - 1%
mormons - 0%
orthodox - 4%
jews - 10%
muslims - 5%
buddhists - 19%
hindus -5%

what’s going on here? i was a bit surprised by the fact that 5% of muslims said they didn’t believe in god…but, i believe like judaism and hinduism islam in the united states is a minority religion which has ethno-cultural saliences for people raised in that tradition. therefore, the tendency to continue to identify as muslims in some way despite an open admission of atheism.