A new Pew Research Center survey finds that when it comes to views
of professions' positive roles in society, clergy rank lower than people
in the military, teachers, medical doctors, scientists and engineers,
but higher than artists, journalists, business executives and lawyers.
Americans were asked to rate 10 professions on their contributions to society. Lawyers were dead last. 43% say they make some contribution; fully a third (34%) say lawyers contribute not very much or nothing at all.
In many communities, a clergy person or spiritual advisor might be sought to be in attendance when there is some type of “life ritual” – Christening/Baptism, Weddings,Funerals, etc.
Some individuals expect their clergy person to be able to have this dialogue and are disappointed, hurt, or feel abandoned by their God because they are unable to have this bond with the Clergy.
Some individuals expect their clergy person to be able to have this dialogue and are disappointed, hurt, or feel abandoned by their God because they are unable to have this bond with the Clergy.
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| Pew Research Center study (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Overall,
just 37 percent of Americans say clergy contribute "a lot" to the
nation. When it comes to people who attend church weekly, the numbers
are higher with about 52 percent saying clergy make "a lot" of positive
contributions.
Even among those who attend
church weekly, about 1 in 10 people say clergy contribute "not very
much" or "nothing" to society's well-being. A larger number, 29 percent,
say clergy contribute "some."
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| Typological groups according to the Pew Research Center. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
See the full results at Pew.
