WACO, TEXAS, USA, Thursday, Sep. 18, 2008: More than half of all Americans believe they have been helped by a guardian being in the course of their lives, according to a new poll of American religious beliefs by the Baylor University Institute for Studies of Religion. Of the 1700 respondents, 55% answered affirmatively to the statement, “I was protected from harm by a guardian angel.”
This majority belief cut across religious, regional and educational differences, although the figure dropped to 37% among those earning over $150,000 a year. Far fewer people responded positively to statements involving other forms of supernatural intervention, such as a miraculous healing.
The figures were “the big shocker” in the report, says Christopher Bader, director of the survey, because the question involved actual experience, not just belief. “If you ask whether people believe in guardian angels, a lot of people will say, ‘sure.’ But this is different. It’s experiential. It means that lots of Americans are having… supernatural experiences.”
Parts of the Baylor study will be released in a book entitled, What Americans Really Believe.