New Baylor University survey says just over half of Americans believe they have a guardian angel

Just over half of Americans think they are watched over by guardian angels, a fifth claim that they have heard God speaking to them and 16 per cent believe they have been miraculously healed, according to a recent survey by Baylor University reported in The Washington Times.

“Mystical experiences are widespread,” declared Rodney Stark, co-director of Baylor’s  Institute for Studies of Religion, which probed the views of 1,648 adults with 350 questions about their religious life.

The survey, with a four-point margin of error, showed that religious liberals are more likely to believe in paranormal phenomena like UFOs and contact with the dead than religious conservatives.

Baylor researchers reported that American atheists have comprised a stable four percent of the population since 1944.

Europe has more atheists than the U.S., according to the survey, but, except for France at 14 per cent, no European country has more than seven percent of its population declaring atheism.  In the east, though, 12 percent of Japanese are atheists and 14 per cent of Chinese. 

The survey reported regular church attendance at a little more than a third of the American population -- at 36 per cent.

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