A spirit in a house, a kind man on the side of the road. Americans are big believers in angels, though not necessarily ones with wings.
An overwhelming majority, almost regardless of background and religious convictions, think angels are real, according to an AP-AOL News poll of attitudes about angels and Santa Claus.
Belief in angels, however defined, is highest--almost universal--among white evangelical Christians, 97 percent of whom trust in their existence, the poll indicates. But even among people with no religious affiliation, more than half said angels are for real.
Among the findings about angels and Santa:
- Protestants, women, Southerners, Midwesterners and Republicans were the most likely to believe in angels. Belief in them declined slightly with advanced education, from 87 percent of those with high school education or less to 73 percent of those with college degrees. Overall, 81 percent believed in angels.
- 86 percent believed in Santa as a child.
- Nearly half, 47 percent, said Santa detracts from the religious significance of Christmas; 36 percent said he enhances its religious nature.
The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted by telephone Dec. 12 to 14 by Ipsos, an international public opinion research company. The margin of sampling error for all adults was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
If it's one thing to believe in angels, it's something else to explain exactly what an angel is.
"A presence that you feel around you, is my opinion," said Elizabeth Daves, 63, of Flemington, N.J.
Edward Pelz, 80, of Grabill, Ind., said he believes angels are guiding him, even though it's impossible to explain to anyone else.
"Have I ever seen one? Nope. We depict an angel as a person that's white, has a robe on, has wings on back. I'm not sure that's the way they look. So for me, I think sometimes there's angels that aren't that way."
Pelz recounted a story about a man who showed up to change his tire when he had a flat in Ohio five years ago.
"I look at life--I say, well maybe I had an angel with me here today. It could have been just another man doing a good deed."
E-Mail Story
Print Story
