Reading Sacred Texts

• Introduction
• Patterns

Reading Sacred Texts (Demographic Patterns)

Outside of attending religious services, about how often do you read the Bible, Koran, Torah, or other sacred book?

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Reading Sacred Texts by Gender (Baylor Religion Survey, 2005)

	Male	Female	TOTAL
Never	28.6% 210	20.8% 200	24.1% 410
Less than once a year	17.7% 130	11.4% 110	14.1% 240
Once or twice a year	11.6% 85	11.0% 106	11.2% 191
Several times a year	12.8% 94	14.2% 137	13.6% 231
Once a month	2.2% 16	2.7% 26	2.5% 42
2-3 times a month	5.3% 39	6.4% 62	5.9% 101
About weekly	5.6% 41	7.8% 75	6.8% 116
Weekly	3.8% 28	5.6% 54	4.8% 82
Several times a week or more often	12.5% 92	20.0% 193	16.8% 285
Missing	10	13	23
TOTAL	100% 735	100% 963	1698

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Reading Sacred Texts by Race (Baylor Religion Survey, 2005)

	White	Black	Other	Missing	TOTAL
Never	25.2% 375	4.6% 3	25.5% 26	6	24.4% 404
Less than once a year	14.0% 208	10.8% 7	13.7% 14	11	13.8% 229
Once or twice a year	11.5% 171	4.6% 3	12.7% 13	4	11.3% 187
Several times a year	13.6% 202	13.8% 9	15.7% 16	4	13.7% 227
Once a month	2.6% 39	0.0% 0	1.0% 1	2	2.4% 40
2-3 times a month	5.9% 88	7.7% 5	6.9% 7	1	6.0% 100
About weekly	6.6% 98	12.3% 8	6.9% 7	3	6.8% 113
Weekly	4.7% 70	12.3% 8	3.9% 4	0	5.0% 82
Several times a week or more often	16.0% 238	33.8% 22	13.7% 14	11	16.5% 274
Missing	19	1	1	2	23
TOTAL	100% 1489	100% 65	100% 102	44	1656

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Reading Sacred Texts by Religion (Baylor Religion Survey, 2005)

	Protestant	Catholic	Other	None	Missing	TOTAL
Never	12.8% 125	30.0% 113	61.7% 142	18.8% 16	14	23.7% 396
Less than once a year	10.2% 100	20.4% 77	19.1% 44	16.5% 14	5	14.1% 235
Once or twice a year	11.6% 113	12.7% 48	8.7% 20	10.6% 9	1	11.4% 190
Several times a year	14.2% 139	18.6% 70	3.9% 9	12.9% 11	2	13.7% 229
Once a month	2.7% 26	2.9% 11	0.9% 2	3.5% 3	0	2.5% 42
2-3 times a month	7.9% 77	3.2% 12	3.0% 7	3.5% 3	2	5.9% 99
About weekly	9.0% 88	4.0% 15	1.7% 4	9.4% 8	1	6.9% 115
Weekly	6.9% 67	2.9% 11	0.0% 0	3.5% 3	1	4.9% 81
Several times a week or more often	24.7% 241	5.3% 20	0.9% 2	21.2% 18	4	16.8% 281
Missing	14	3	1	1	4	23
TOTAL	100% 976	100% 377	100% 230	100% 85	34	1668

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Reading Sacred Texts by Age (Baylor Religion Survey, 2005)

	18-30	31-44	45-64	65+	Missing	TOTAL
Never	26.2% 34	28.4% 107	26.0% 194	17.1% 73	2	24.3% 408
Less than once a year	14.6% 19	15.1% 57	14.5% 108	11.9% 51	5	14.0% 235
Once or twice a year	16.2% 21	10.6% 40	11.3% 84	10.5% 45	1	11.3% 190
Several times a year	6.9% 9	13.5% 51	14.9% 111	14.0% 60	0	13.8% 231
Once a month	5.4% 7	1.6% 6	1.9% 14	3.5% 15	0	2.5% 42
2-3 times a month	6.9% 9	4.8% 18	5.8% 43	7.2% 31	0	6.0% 101
About weekly	3.1% 4	6.1% 23	6.2% 46	9.3% 40	3	6.7% 113
Weekly	5.4% 7	3.7% 14	4.3% 32	6.1% 26	3	4.7% 79
Several times a week or more often	15.4% 20	16.2% 61	15.2% 113	20.3% 87	4	16.7% 281
Missing	1	2	4	14	2	23
TOTAL	100% 130	100% 377	100% 745	100% 428	20	1680

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Reading Sacred Texts by Church attendance (Baylor Religion Survey, 2005)

	Never	< 1 Month	< 1 a Week	Weekly +	Missing	TOTAL
Never	59.8% 213	26.5% 124	12.5% 41	5.6% 30	2	24.2% 408
Less than once a year	17.4% 62	23.3% 109	11.2% 37	5.4% 29	3	14.0% 237
Once or twice a year	9.8% 35	18.2% 85	12.8% 42	5.2% 28	1	11.2% 190
Several times a year	6.5% 23	17.3% 81	20.1% 66	11.2% 60	1	13.6% 230
Once a month	1.1% 4	1.7% 8	4.0% 13	3.2% 17	0	2.5% 42
2-3 times a month	2.0% 7	4.5% 21	10.9% 36	6.7% 36	1	5.9% 100
About weekly	0.8% 3	2.8% 13	10.6% 35	12.1% 65	0	6.9% 116
Weekly	0.6% 2	1.5% 7	5.8% 19	10.1% 54	0	4.9% 82
Several times a week or more often	2.0% 7	4.3% 20	12.2% 40	40.5% 217	1	16.8% 284
Missing	2	6	0	2	13	23
TOTAL	100% 356	100% 468	100% 329	100% 536	22	1689

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Reading Sacred Texts by Preference in 2004 Election (Baylor Religion Survey, 2005)

	Bush	Kerry	Other	Missing	TOTAL
Never	17.0% 139	31.6% 213	28.0% 53	5	24.1% 405
Less than once a year	12.0% 98	16.5% 111	15.3% 29	2	14.1% 238
Once or twice a year	10.4% 85	12.2% 82	12.2% 23	1	11.3% 190
Several times a year	13.6% 111	13.6% 92	14.8% 28	0	13.7% 231
Once a month	2.6% 21	2.7% 18	1.6% 3	0	2.5% 42
2-3 times a month	5.7% 47	5.3% 36	8.5% 16	2	5.9% 99
About weekly	7.2% 59	6.5% 44	6.3% 12	1	6.8% 115
Weekly	5.9% 48	3.6% 24	4.2% 8	2	4.8% 80
Several times a week or more often	25.8% 211	8.0% 54	9.0% 17	3	16.8% 282
Missing	12	5	3	3	23
TOTAL	100% 819	100% 674	100% 189	19	1682

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Reading Sacred Texts by Education (Baylor Religion Survey, 2005)

	< HIGH SCH	HS GRAD	SOME COLL.	JR COLL.	BA DEGREE	GRAD DEGRE	Missing	TOTAL
Never	14.8% 9	23.2% 58	23.3% 94	24.1% 33	26.2% 108	25.7% 104	4	24.3% 406
Less than once a year	13.1% 8	8.8% 22	12.6% 51	19.7% 27	16.5% 68	13.3% 54	10	13.8% 230
Once or twice a year	11.5% 7	13.6% 34	8.7% 35	12.4% 17	10.9% 45	12.6% 51	2	11.3% 189
Several times a year	11.5% 7	14.8% 37	14.6% 59	13.9% 19	13.1% 54	12.8% 52	3	13.7% 228
Once a month	3.3% 2	0.4% 1	3.5% 14	1.5% 2	2.4% 10	3.2% 13	0	2.5% 42
2-3 times a month	3.3% 2	6.4% 16	7.2% 29	5.1% 7	5.1% 21	6.2% 25	1	6.0% 100
About weekly	4.9% 3	9.2% 23	6.7% 27	7.3% 10	6.6% 27	6.2% 25	1	6.9% 115
Weekly	8.2% 5	6.4% 16	5.9% 24	5.1% 7	3.4% 14	4.0% 16	0	4.9% 82
Several times a week or more often	29.5% 18	17.2% 43	17.6% 71	10.9% 15	15.8% 65	16.0% 65	8	16.6% 277
Missing	1	7	6	3	3	1	2	23
TOTAL	100% 61	100% 250	100% 404	100% 137	100% 412	100% 405	31	1669

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Reading Sacred Texts by Marital status (Baylor Religion Survey, 2005)

	Married	Cohab	Widowed	Div/Sep	Never Marr	Missing	TOTAL
Never	22.5% 232	34.4% 21	20.1% 30	26.5% 63	32.1% 61	3	24.4% 407
Less than once a year	14.2% 147	13.1% 8	8.7% 13	13.0% 31	16.8% 32	9	13.8% 231
Once or twice a year	11.8% 122	16.4% 10	8.1% 12	10.5% 25	10.5% 20	2	11.3% 189
Several times a year	12.6% 130	9.8% 6	17.4% 26	16.0% 38	14.7% 28	3	13.7% 228
Once a month	2.6% 27	3.3% 2	2.7% 4	2.1% 5	2.1% 4	0	2.5% 42
2-3 times a month	6.6% 68	6.6% 4	4.7% 7	4.2% 10	5.8% 11	1	6.0% 100
About weekly	7.1% 73	6.6% 4	10.1% 15	5.5% 13	4.7% 9	2	6.8% 114
Weekly	5.1% 53	0.0% 0	6.7% 10	4.6% 11	4.2% 8	0	4.9% 82
Several times a week or more often	17.4% 180	9.8% 6	21.5% 32	17.6% 42	8.9% 17	8	16.6% 277
Missing	11	0	4	4	2	2	23
TOTAL	100% 1032	100% 61	100% 149	100% 238	100% 190	30	1670

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Reading Sacred Texts by Household income (Baylor Religion Survey, 2005)

	< 20000	20k-35k	35k-50k	50k-100k	100k +	Missing	TOTAL
Never	16.1% 31	18.9% 43	20.3% 60	27.1% 149	31.5% 104	23	24.3% 387
Less than once a year	9.4% 18	11.0% 25	12.5% 37	16.0% 88	17.3% 57	15	14.1% 225
Once or twice a year	10.9% 21	11.4% 26	13.2% 39	12.0% 66	10.3% 34	5	11.7% 186
Several times a year	15.1% 29	16.2% 37	16.2% 48	12.4% 68	11.2% 37	12	13.7% 219
Once a month	1.6% 3	4.4% 10	3.0% 9	1.6% 9	3.0% 10	1	2.6% 41
2-3 times a month	5.2% 10	6.1% 14	7.8% 23	4.2% 23	7.9% 26	5	6.0% 96
About weekly	8.3% 16	8.3% 19	7.8% 23	7.1% 39	5.2% 17	2	7.1% 114
Weekly	7.3% 14	3.9% 9	4.4% 13	4.4% 24	3.9% 13	9	4.6% 73
Several times a week or more often	26.0% 50	19.7% 45	14.9% 44	15.1% 83	9.7% 32	31	15.9% 254
Missing	5	4	6	0	1	7	23
TOTAL	100% 192	100% 228	100% 296	100% 549	100% 330	110	1595

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Notes

Baylor Religion Survey, 2005: The Baylor Religion Survey (BRS) is national population survey of religious characteristics, orientations, and attitudes modeled after the General Social Survey. The 2005 BRS data includes 1,721 responses collected by the Gallup Organization. A third of the survey is dedicated solely to religion items; focusing on affiliation, identity, belief, experience, and commitment. Two-thirds of the survey is dedicated to topical modules which will be rotated in subsequent administrations. The 2005 survey includes modules on moral and political attitudes, the consumption of religious goods, the paranormal and civic engagement.