US voters give God a 52% approval rating

If the presidential election was held today and God was one of the candidates, there's no question that He'd be elected... just not by as wide a margin as you might expect. A recent survey (July 21) by Democratic research firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) was checking approval ratings of Congress in the midst of the rancorous debt ceiling debate in Washington but threw in a few questions about God's performance too. God, of course, did better than Congress but then, a four-day old dead mackerel probably would have as well.

 

Approval ratings for the job Congressional Democrats and Republicans are doing were tied at 33%. That's only 19% below God's. The gap in the disapproval ratings was wider though. For the Democrats it was 54%; for Republicans, 55%. God walked away with this one with only a 9% disapproval rating.

 

Here are the four questions the survey asked about God:

 

1) If God exists, do you approve or disapprove of its performance?

Approve ..............52%

Disapprove .......... 9%

Not sure .............40%

 

2) If God exists, do you approve or disapprove of its handling of natural disasters?

Approve ..............50%

Disapprove ..........13%

Not sure ..............37%

 

3) If God exists, do you approve or disapprove of its handling of animals?

Approve ...............56%

Disapprove ...........11%

Not sure ...............33%

 

4) If God exists, do you approve or disapprove of its handling of creating the universe?

Approve ................71%

Disapprove ............ 5%

Not sure ................24%

 

The survey of 928 voters was conducted between July 15th and July 17th. The margin of error is +/-3.2%. You can see all the survey results here (pdf).

 

For a local perspective, Los Angeles area teacher Stan Kohls was asked what he thought of the survey. "Too bad they didn't ask, 'If they exist, do you approve or disapprove of the performance of God's followers?'" Mr. Kohls said.