Four-State Survey Offers Insights Into Regional Differences : Californians Found Religious, but in Unorthodox Way

Californians, who tend to be rootless and highly mobile, are about twice as likely not to have any religious affiliation as are residents of other parts of the nation, a new survey has found.

Yet the Golden State appeals to the religiously unorthodox, with nearly one in three residents believing in reincarnation and more than one in five practicing Eastern-style meditation--more than twice the percentage in the rest of the country.

“California is a surprising mix,” declares Phillip E. Hammond, a professor of religious studies and sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “It’s least religious in some ways and most in others. . . . There’s a lot of loose religiosity floating around.”

Four States Surveyed

Hammond is conducting a $249,000 study of regional differences in religious styles. Funded by Lilly Endowment, his survey is part of a project to help mainline church leaders confront the widespread challenges awaiting American Protestantism next century. The data was obtained from 2,600 telephone interviews last fall with people aged 24 to 60 in California, Massachusetts, Ohio and North Carolina. Equal random samples were taken in each state.

Californians are about twice as likely to identify with nondenominational churches but only half as likely to be evangelical as are Protestants in the other states, the survey shows. “Nondenominational,” Hammond explained in an interview at his oceanside campus office, “means independent congregations that don’t recognize larger organizational connections.”

Definition of Evangelical

“Evangelical” refers to conservative, affiliated denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention, the Church of the Nazarene and the Assemblies of God.

At the same time, only 49% of Californians hold membership in a church or synagogue, compared to 68% of the combined respondents in the three other states.

Another finding is that Californians tend to drop out--and stay out--of church and synagogue involvement to a greater degree than residents elsewhere: 59% of Californians reported a dropout period of two years or more, compared to a combined 45% in the other states. And there were fewer “returnees” who later became active again--49% versus 58%.

Families Not Close

Hammond also found that Californians are less likely to be surrounded by family members and close associates who share their religious views--a finding that supports the perception that ever since Gold Rush days, Californians have tended to be more mobile and less rooted than people in other areas of the nation.

Hammond said he and his colleagues chose Massachusetts to represent the Eastern Seaboard and North Carolina to represent the South. Ohio, “a one-state mirror for all 50,” is regarded by pollsters as a microcosm of the country because of its demographic balance. Indeed, in the survey questions, Ohio always came out in the middle, Hammond said.

West Coast Represented

West Coast religion is distinctive, in Hammond’s opinion. So while California is unique, the state is also representative of the Pacific states, particularly Oregon.

Hammond, who is a past president of the professional Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, found that Californians are less inclined to pray, read the Bible regularly, take the Scriptures literally and say mealtime grace. They also are less likely to have had a “born-again” experience than the combined respondents of the other states.

But when it comes to believing in reincarnation and ghosts, and in practicing meditation techniques such as those taught by Transcendental Meditation, Zen and other “New Age” groups, Californians are more “religious” than their counterparts.

Morality’s Role Uncertain

Hammond also found that people who tend to disavow “conventional” sexual and family norms are positively associated with “unconventional” religious styles, particularly belief in reincarnation and the practice of meditation. But Hammond said he is not sure how to interpret this.

“Do people adopt the ‘new morality’ because they practice meditation, or the other way around?” he asked.

The morality measure in the survey was based on asking interviewees whether they thought premarital sex, homosexual relations and abortion were wrong, and whether they thought “the husband ought to have the main say-so in family matters.”

Women’s Ordination Favored

The gray-bearded Hammond stresses that his data analysis so far is “preliminary” and “provisional.” But, pointing to stacks of computer printouts during the interview, he added: “The religious differences we are finding are true differences. . . . We are developing confidence as the probability patterns build up.”

Hammond said he was surprised to find widespread approval for women’s ordination, with the only scant resistance being in North Carolina. Even there, 75% of the respondents approve of women ministers, and in heavily Roman Catholic Massachusetts, it’s 86%--highest of the four sampled states. The Vatican prohibits women priests.

Differences on ‘Born Again’

He sees stronger regional differences in what people mean when they say they have been “born again”:

“I think being evangelical in North Carolina is quite a different experience than being evangelical in California. The mainline people--the Baptists--in Carolina have been ‘born again,’ ” he said. “It’s a part of their culture. Here in California, a ‘born-again’ (person) is apt to have been a dropout, or one not reared (as) anything. It’s a kind of ‘entry-level’ expression, I’m guessing. It’s more strongly tied to conservative views--theological and social and political--than it is in North Carolina.”

In like manner, Hammond predicts that the bottom lines of his survey will show marked regional differences in what it means, for example, to be a Roman Catholic or a Methodist.

“I think we’re going to show that mainline religion has no single problem, so there is no single solution,” he concluded. “And there will be considerable variation . . . not just regional, but within regions. . . . There will be an intensification of religion as a consumer item, and I think California is leading the nation in this.”

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES A survey of religious styles in California compared to an average of samples taken in three states, Massachusetts representing the East, North Carolina representing the South and Ohio representing Middle America.

MASSACHUSETTS, PERCENT WHO: CALIFORNIA OHIO,NORTH CAROLINA Are church or synagogue members 49 68 Attend church more than once a month 9 13 Have read Bible in home in last year 59 63 Pray daily 56 59 Usually say mealtime grace 33 40 Have had a “born-again” experience 40 43 Believe Bible to be taken literally 40 45 Believe in devil or satan 57 68 Believe in eternal life 79 85 Have no religious identification 19 10 Dropped church for two or more years 59 45 Believe in reincarnation 30 24 Believe in ghosts 32 26 Practice meditation (TM, Zen, etc.) 21 10 Support women’s ordination 82 80 Approve legal abortion for married women 60 47 Consider self politically liberal 26 24

SOURCE: Telephone interviews with 2,600 people aged 24 to 60 in California, Massachusetts, Ohio and North Carolina (650 in each state) during September, October and November of 1988. Study funded by Lilly Endowment.