Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on July 25, 2012

The Pew center report on Asian American religions finds Hindu Americans are majority of Indian Americans; they vote predominantly Democratic; majority celebrate Christmas; only 19 per cent say they attend worship services at least once a week; are way ahead of Jewish Americans in both education and family income. Aziz Haniffa reports.

Close on the heels of its seminal report on the Rise of Asian Americans last month, the highly-respected Pew Research Center last week brought out yet another comprehensive report -- this time a survey of the religions of Asian Americans -- titled Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths, which found that Hindu Americans constitute 51 per cent of the Indian American population, but only 19 per cent said they attend worship services at least once a week.

While 51 per cent of Indian Americans were Hindu, according to the report, 18 per cent were Christian( Protestant 11 per cent, Catholic, 5 per cent), 10 per cent were Muslim, 10 per cent, unaffiliated, and Sikhs constituted 5 per cent and Jains, 2 per cent.

The survey also found that the majority of Hindu Americans celebrate Christmas as they do Diwali [ Images ], tend to vote largely Democratic, are streets ahead of other Asian American groups in terms of education and family income and of all the largest Asian American religious groups, Hindus have the highest retention rate, with "fully 81 per cent of Asian Americans who were raised Hindu, remain Hindu today; 12 per cent have become unaffiliated, and the rest have switched to other faiths(or did not give a current religion)."

It said, "By far the lowest intermarriage rate is among Hindus. Nine-in-10 married Hindus (94 per cent) have a spouse who is also Hindu," which was greater than about "eight-in-10 Catholics (81 per cent) are married to fellow Catholics or Protestants, respectively. Seven-in-10 Buddhists are married to fellow Buddhists (70 per cent) and 61 per cent of those with no religious affiliation have a spouse who is also unaffiliated."

The survey said Asian American Hindus also maintain some distinctive religious beliefs and practices, and noted that "Yoga has a long tradition in Hinduism, and nearly three-quarters of US Asian Hindus see it not just as an exercise but as a spiritual practice (73 per cent)."

It said, "More than half of Asian American Hindus say they believe in reincarnation and moksha, defined in the survey as 'the ultimate state transcending pain and desire in which individual consciousness ends (59 per cent each)."

"About half also believe in astrology (53 per cent), defined in the survey as the belief 'that the position of the stars and planets can affect people's lives."

The survey said that, "Fewer believe in spiritual energy in physical things (46 per cent) on in ancestral spirits (34 per cent)."

It said, "In addition, Hindus tend to practice their religion in different ways than do Christians," and noted that "although just 19 per cent of Asian American Hindus say they attend worship services at least once a week, nearly eight-in-10 (78 per cent) have a shrine in their home."

Read the original:
Asian Americans show wide diversity of faith: Study

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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