USA - Remember the traditional image of women as the more spiritual sex? That’s gone the way of women as the "fairer" and weaker sex, a new poll indicates.
In the third report on religious changes in America since 1991, pollster George Barna says women attend church and Sunday school less, read the Bible less and regard it as less reliable, and consider their faith less important in their lives.
Over the last two decades, women have also become less likely to hold orthodox views of God as the all-knowing creator and ruler of the universe. And they're less likely to see the devil as a real person, considering him more a "symbol of evil."
These and other findings come from Barna's annual January survey, 1,621 randomly chosen adults this year. His full report is posted on his website.
Of the 14 factors in belief and behavior measured through the research, women have changed a lot in 10, the report says. And eight of them represent "negative movement" -- away from religious involvement or biblical teachings.
"No population group among the sixty segments examined has gone through more spiritual changes in the past two decades than women," Barna writes.
Ironically, 44 percent of American women -- 6 percent higher than two decades ago -- say they’ve undergone a spiritual change that remains important to them today, a spiritual stance Barna calls being born again. Women are apparently getting religion, but not from church or Sunday school or the Bible.
Most women still believe in a personal God (70 percent) and a personal devil (56 percent), and that their religious faith is very important to them (63 percent). But all those rates have slid since 1991.
Females are still more religious and spiritual than men, but the changes are narrowing the gap. In church attendance, for instance, 44 percent of women show up during a typical week, versus 42 percent of men. However, male attendance has fallen only 6 percent in 20 years, compared to 11 percent for women.
One surprise: The genders are equally likely to read the Bible during typical week. For men, it's gone up by a percent, to 41 percent; for women, it's fallen by 10 percent, to 40 percent.
In his commentary on the findings, Barna notes that churches can no longer expect women to stay in the pews.
"The frightening reality for churches is that the people they have relied upon as the backbone of the church can no longer be assumed to be available and willing when needed, as they were in days past," he says.
How will churches respond? Barna speculates they may increase the "male-friendliness of the proceedings," although he doesn’t specify. Men may also be "pressured" to take part in church life more, he suggests.