Scripture-engaged Americans place higher importance on civic engagement, poll finds

July 22, 2024

A new poll by the American Bible Society shows that Americans who are regularly involved with scripture place a higher importance on civic engagement.

The Christian Post reports that the fourth chapter of the State of the Bible 2024 report was released last week. The data is based on responses from 2,506 U.S. adults who were surveyed between Jan 4-23, 2024.

The latest chapter examined the respondents’ attitudes toward traits and beliefs associated with civic behavior and being a “good neighbor.”

When respondents were asked about “maintaining awareness of civic and government issues” as being “important” or “very important,” 54% gave an affirmative answer. That number jumped to 66% among respondents who identify as “scripture engaged.”

The report states: “On every point — awareness, advocacy, and submission — the Scripture Engaged are far more apt to tout the importance of civic responsibility. We see little difference between the Movable Middle and the Bible Disengaged on awareness and advocacy, but the Scripture Engaged clearly place a higher value on these aspects of citizenship.”

American Bible Society Chief Innovation Officer and State of the Bible Editor-in-Chief John Farquhar Plake said in a statement: “From our research, we see that those who engage with Scripture place high importance on loving their neighbors, just as Jesus did. From advocating for the oppressed to befriending those of other races, these believers promote what we call pro-social behaviors.”

NORC at the University of Chicago performed the survey using its AmeriSpeak panel.  The survey has a margin of error of 2.73 percentage points.

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