Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 11, 1993 TAG: 9312110034
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: C-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Twenty-two percent of the nearly 3,000 respondents, including nearly a third of Russians under 25, said they once were atheists but now believe in God, according to the study released Thursday by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.
After seven decades in an atheist state, three-quarters of Russians expressed absolute or a great deal of confidence in the church, a confidence rating nearly twice as high as Americans report.
"Since the mass conversions of the Middle Ages has there ever been such a widespread and rapid change in religion?" asks the Rev. Andrew Greeley, a University of Chicago sociologist, in a report on the findings.
His conclusion: "St. Vladimir has routed Karl Marx."
The Russian Center for Public Opinion Research in Moscow collected questionnaires from 2,964 respondents in 1991 for the study, part of the International Social Survey Program. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percent, Greeley said.
What makes the findings in Russia particularly interesting is the length of time respondents had spent in an atheist state. While other studies have found a resurgence of religion in eastern Europe, the findings in Russia were of a population consisting almost entirely of people who had spent all of their lives under socialist rule.
David Barrett, editor of the World Christian Encyclopedia, said the study provides the "first batch of solid information" of religion in Russia.
"It's one confirmation of the shift in ideology in Russia," he said. "It's one of the most enormous swings ever in the history of Christianity."
In a report entitled "God is Alive and Well and Living in Moscow," Greeley said the study findings "would seem at least at first glance to demonstrate, after the most serious attempt to obliterate religion in human history, the most dramatic religious revival in human history."
For example, 22 percent of the respondents said they were atheists, but now believe in God, compared to 3 percent who said they once believed in God but became atheists. The proportion of Russians who have abandoned atheism is twice as high as the next greatest conversion rate found in the International Social Survey.
And the newfound belief in God was relatively high among younger Russians. Thirty percent of Russians under 25 and a quarter of those between 25 and 34 reported converting from atheism.
Overall, about half of the respondents said they believe there is a God who concerns himself with every human being personally, and 40 percent believe in life after death.
Church attendance is still relatively low: A third report ever attending church, and 8 percent say they attend at least monthly.
But the church receives widespread support, according to the survey. Seventy-five percent of Russians expressed a great deal of confidence in the church, while only 7 percent said the church has too much power.
"They have a good deal more confidence in their religious institutions than any other institutions in society," Greeley said in an interview.
On church-state issues, three-quarters of respondents said they favor a ban on anti-religious books, and two-thirds support school prayer. Less than half, or 43 percent of respondents, said the church should stay out of politics.
Greeley said becoming religious is an acceptable and maybe even praiseworthy act in the current political climate.
But he said practical concerns do not appear to be the main reason Russians are turning to God.
"It might be more likely hope for the future," he said.
by CNB