Washington D.C., Jun 22, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Confidence in organized religion has increased among adults in the United States to 53 percent, up from 50 percent last year and 45 percent in 2002, the lowest point since polling on the subject began in 1973.
A Gallup poll released yesterday show that 53 percent of Americans say they have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in "the church or organized religion."
Gallup explained the 2002 low with the child sexual abuse scandal that shook the Catholic Church that year.
Even though confidence is on the rise, the overall level is lower than the high of 68 percent in 1975. Confidence in religious organizations remained higher than confidence in any other organization until 1993. Since then, the military and the police have ranked higher.