A stunningly high percentage of Americans say that they believe God will protect them from contracting the coronavirus, according to a new poll.
In a new survey conducted by University of Chicago Divinity School and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, an overwhelming majority of 82 percent of Americans said that they believe in God, and of those believers, large majorities said that the coronavirus pandemic is a message from God, and that God will protect them at least “somewhat” from the disease:
…Fifty-five percent of American believers say they feel at least somewhat that God will protect them from being infected. Evangelical Protestants are more likely than those of other religious backgrounds to say they believe that, with 43% saying so strongly and another 30% saying so somewhat, while Catholics and mainline Protestants are more closely split on feeling that way or not.
Even accounting for non-believers, that’s 45 percent of all Americans who believe God will protect them from the virus, although as AP notes, “the degree and nature of protection that God is believed to offer during the pandemic can differ depending on the believer.”
The poll also found that most Americans say their faith is the same or stronger because of the pandemic, with “26% of Americans say their sense of faith or spirituality has grown stronger as a result of the outbreak. Just 1% say it has weakened.”