American Judaism has a God problem. Actually, and paradoxically, it seems to have two God problems. One is Jewish atheism. The other is Jewish theism. Here we will look at the data and the dilemma.
At the outset, we have to recognize that there is something odd about the concept of Jewish atheism. Is there really such a thing? Can there be a Judaism without God, however you want to define it. What are the People of the Book without the Hero of the story? How can there be commandments without a Commander? Doesn’t a Covenant with God require a Party of the First Part as well as a party of the second part? What do you do with prayer? Can there even be a place for atheism within Judaism?
The questions recall the story about President Harry Truman being asked whether he believed in baptism. “Believe in it?” the crusty president responded, “Hell, I’ve seen it done!”
And so it is with atheism and Judaism. Most of us have “seen it done.” We have seen Jews who are atheists, that is, Jews who do not believe in any god, much less God, but who do social work and philanthropy in and through Jewish federations and community organizations. We have seen them performing what we and they can fairly call mitzvot in the real world. And we have even seen them participating in synagogue life.
Atheists in shul? An old story tells of two gentlemen, Hersh and Maish, who went to their synagogue every Shabbes , Shabbes after Shabbes, year after year. And why did they go? Hersh went to talk to God. And Maish? He went to talk to Hersh. There are, as we know, ” target=”_blank”>surveyed Americans numerous times with respect to their belief in God, a term generally left undefined in the surveys. In 1944, 1947, 1953, 1954, 1965 and 1967, the question was simply put as follows: “Do you believe in God?” the affirmative responses ranged between 94% and 98%, the negatives between 1% and 3%, with 1% or 2% having no opinion.
In 1976, the question was modified to ask: “Do you believe in God or a universal spirit?” In 1976, 1978, 1983, 1988 and 1994, the answers again fell in a very tight range with 94%-96% answering affirmatively, 3-5% answering negatively and 1-2% having no opinion.
In the late 1990s, Gallup offered respondents choices about their belief in God. On at least one occasion, the respondents had a choice of God, universal spirit, neither and other, in addition to no opinion. Another time, respondents could choose whether they believed in God, were not sure, or did not believe. Still another variation asked whether respondents were convinced God exists, thought God probably existed, had a lot of doubts, thought God probably did not exist, or were convinced God did not exist. The worst God did in the 2006, 2007 and 2010 surveys was a 73% for convinced in the 2006 survey. Add in the 14% who had just a little doubt, however, and God received an 87% vote of confidence.
In 2011, Gallup asked the question two different ways, inquiring both about a belief in God and about a belief in God or a universal spirit. It received similar responses to each variation, but a somewhat different result compared to all prior years. In the 2011 survey, only 91-92% answered affirmatively, while 7-8% answered negatively, and 1% had no opinion. Not surprisingly, there were differences reported in different demographic categories. Those who were less likely to assert a belief in God were men (at 90%) to women (at 94%), young adults aged 18 to 29 (at 84%) compared to all other age groups (at 94%), and those with post graduate education (at 87%) compared to those with less formal education (at 92-94%). People living in the East answered affirmatively 86% of the time, while those in the South asserted a belief in God or a universal spirit 98% of the time. Midwesterners and Westerners responded affirmatively 91% and 92% of the time respectively.
Surveys by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and by Harris are fairly consistent with the main findings of Gallup. A survey of over 35,000 individuals published in 2008 by the Pew Forum, and called the ” target=”_blank”>Harris in 2009 found that only 82% of American adults believe in God, while 9% do not and 9% were not sure.
Given the amount and consistency of the data available, it seems reasonably clear that an overwhelming majority of Americans profess a belief in some concept of God. Those who deny the existence of God do not, in national polling, appear to exceed 10% of the general population. When one drills down into the survey results, though, the picture becomes less monochromatic. For instance, in the Landscape Survey, while 92% expressed a belief in God, only 60% believed in a personal God, while 25 % believed in an impersonal force and 7% either did not know or held another belief.
What about the Jews? In 2001, the Center for Jewish Studies, a part of The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, published a report titled the ” target=”_blank”>some commentators have characterized the idea as “ridiculous” and the result “a fraud, an illusion” because the Jewish narrative depends on God, and without God “cannot reproduce itself.” ” target=”_blank”>www.judaismandscience.com.
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