Count of Orthodox Christians

n
186


By Convert Status

I wanted to test an assumption that “Cradle Orthodox” are more likely than converts to favor legal abortion in all or most cases. Pew has an item that asks respondents to identify their childhood religion which I used together with the religion id response to create a “Convert” variable. The findings are below.


As shown here, there were more cradle Orthodox in the 2014 Pew Sample. I suspect that the percentage of converts may be higher in the 2024 data.
 #Total 
 convert 
   Convert  28
   Cradle  72

Here is the abortion response for the Convert/Cradle. Notice that the Converts were nearly evenly split but over 58 percent of Cradle favored allowing abortion in all or most cases.
 convert 
 Convert   Cradle 
 abortion 
   Don’t know  5.8 3.0
   Illegal  48.1 38.8
   Legal  46.2 58.2


By View of Traditional Beliefs


I investigated the item asking respondents to identify their opinion regarding “traditional beliefs”. Surprisingly only 47% of self identified Orthodox believe the Church should preserve traditional beliefs and practices.

 #Total 
 Q.H4 Thinking about your religion, which of the following statements comes CLOSEST to your view? My church or denomination should [READ IN ORDER] 
   preserve its traditional beliefs and practices OR  47.8
   adjust traditional beliefs and practices in light of new circumstances OR  34.9
   adopt modern beliefs and practices.  12.9
   (VOL) Other  1.1
   (VOL) Don’t Know/Refused  3.2


There is a relationship between respondents opinions regarding “traditional belief and practices” and opposition to abortion. Disturbingly the percent of those who oppose abortion within the group who desire an upholding of tradition is only 55%. The percentage decreases dramatically for those respondents who prefer adjustment inlight of or adoption of “modern beliefs and practices”.

 Q.H4 Thinking about your religion, which of the following statements comes CLOSEST to your view? My church or denomination should [READ IN ORDER] 
 preserve its traditional beliefs and practices OR   adjust traditional beliefs and practices in light of new circumstances OR   adopt modern beliefs and practices.   (VOL) Other   (VOL) Don’t Know/Refused 
 abortion 
   Don’t know  4.5 50.0
   Illegal  55.1 32.3 16.7 50 33.3
   Legal  40.4 67.7 83.3 50 16.7



By Importance of Religion


This item is interesting to me. Only 50% of “Orthodox” respondents selected that “religion” was very important in their lives. One would then expect that they also would have opinions regarding abortion that also align with Church teaching. One the one hand, they are more likely to oppose abortion in all or most cases; on the other, only 54% oppose abortion.

I am not sure what to make of this and the previous item on “traditional beliefs”. Either respondents are giving the answer they think is desirable but don’t actually practice (similar to responses on frequency of flossing) or they are sincere and merely don’t understand the teaching of the Church.

 #Total 
 Q.F2. How important is religion in your life - very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not at all important? 
   Very important  50.5
   Somewhat important  33.9
   Not too important  11.8
   Not at all important  3.2
   (VOL) Don’t Know/Refused  0.5


 Q.F2. How important is religion in your life - very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not at all important? 
 Very important   Somewhat important   Not too important   Not at all important   (VOL) Don’t Know/Refused 
 abortion 
   Don’t know  4.3 9.1 16.7
   Illegal  54.3 31.7 22.7 16.7
   Legal  41.5 68.3 68.2 66.7 100



By Attendence at Divine Services


Attendance at divine services looks to be the best indicator of adherence to the teaching of the Church on abortion. Higher attendance seems to correspond with opposition to abortion. Even more, 70% of those who attend at least once a week oppose abortion in all or most cases. The only aberrant finding is that those who attend more than once a week are nearly evenly spit with an unusually high percentage selecting “don’t know”. I am not sure what accounts for this, but one possibility is the small number of respondents who selected that response, only 15. There could also be some issue with mistaken responses or mis-keyed data both of which will have an out-sized effect in a very small sample. I will be surprised if this data point is repeated in the 2024 survey.

 #Total 
 ATTEND. Aside from weddings and funerals, how often do you attend religious services… more than once a week, once a week, once or twice a month, a few times a year, seldom, or never? 
   More than once a week  8.1
   Once a week  19.9
   Once or twice a month  23.1
   A few times a year  31.7
   Seldom  14.0
   Never  3.2
   (VOL) Don’t know/Refused 


 ATTEND. Aside from weddings and funerals, how often do you attend religious services… more than once a week, once a week, once or twice a month, a few times a year, seldom, or never? 
 More than once a week   Once a week   Once or twice a month   A few times a year   Seldom   Never   (VOL) Don’t know/Refused 
 abortion 
   Don’t know  13.3 2.3 7.7 33.3
   Illegal  46.7 70.3 41.9 32.2 26.9
   Legal  40.0 29.7 55.8 67.8 65.4 66.7