Bible Event Held at Capitol As Fewer Americans Identify as Religious

Bible Event Held at Capitol As Fewer Americans Identify as Religious

Hundreds of Christians² gathered recently in front of the United States Capitol building on a cold and rainy day.

They began a public reading of their holy book, the Bible.

They kept reading for 90 hours.

The event is called the U.S. Capitol Bible Reading Marathon. It marks the National Day of Prayer and has been taking place for 27 years.

Pastor³ Jeffrey Light of NOVUM Baptist Church in Reva, Virginia spoke⁴ to VOA about the event. He said its goal is to show the importance of religion in American life.

"It’s foundational for who we are as human beings to know our purpose, and our purpose comes from our creator," Light said.

Few know the part of religion in America better than Alan Cooperman. He leads study of the subject for the Washington-based Pew Research Center.

The center did two major studies on religion in the U.S. in 2007 and 2014. The research found that the American public is growing less religious.

"The percentage of Americans who say they believe in God has dropped a little," Cooperman told VOA. He explained that the percentage of Americans who say they pray daily has dropped, along with the percentage who say they go to religious services at least once a month.

Cooperman said the share of Americans who do not identify with any religion has been rising very quickly.

In his words, "It's gone from 7 percent in 2000, 16 percent in 2007, to 23 percent overall today."

Cooperman believes the drop in religious involvement reflects a generational change. Young Americans are growing into adulthood⁵ with looser ties to religion. The children of today are also less involved in religious activities than the children of past generations.

Religion and politics

But lawmakers and government officials are more likely to be religious than the general public. Organized faith appears to still play an important part in U.S. politics.

More than 90 percent of the United States Congress is Christian¹ compared to 70 percent of the general public. At a recent Senate discussion, members of Congress talked about how they balance faith and politics.

Senator James Lankford is a Republican from Oklahoma. He told VOA that faith is “the lens” he looks through.

He added, “If it's a faith, it affects everything."

Many religions are represented in Congress. Along with Christian legislators are Muslims, Hindus and Jews. There are also some atheist⁶ lawmakers.

‘Overwhelmingly religious’

For Cooperman, even the increasing number non-religious Americans may not be enough to change the role of faith in American life and politics.

"…the American public remains⁷ overwhelmingly religious," he said. In his words, "It's a very religious country. Three quarters of Americans, about 77 percent of the population, still identify with a religious group."

Pastor Jeffrey Light agrees. He said the role of religion will continue to play an important part in this year's presidential election.

“For me and those that are seekers of the word of God,” he said, “we will certainly seek a leader who honors God.”

Words in This Story

Bible – n. the book of writings considered holy by the Christian religion

marathon – n. an event or activity that lasts an extremely long time or that requires great effort

faith – n. strong belief or trust in someone or something

lens -– n. a clear, curved piece of glass or plastic that is used to make things look clearer

reflect – v. to move in one direction, hit a surface and then quickly move in another direction

pursue – v. to search for something; to seek or ask for

atheist – n. a person who does not believe that God exists

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

3 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

6 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。