A minority of Mainers said that they believed in the existence of God or hell, but most said they believe there is a heaven.
That’s based on the findings of a Pew Research Center survey of more than 35,000 people across the United States, which also found that more Mainers meditate and report feeling a regular feeling of deep peace than they did in 2007.
Pew’s findings shed new light on religious practices and beliefs in the state. The first part of the report, released in May, found that the number of Mainers who identified as Christian dropped from 72 percent in 2007 to 60 percent last year.
That follows a national trend, as people generally report they are less religious, but more spiritual.
Among the 2014 findings:
Fewer Mainers said they definitely believed in God
Fifty-nine percent of Mainers in 2007 said they were “absolutely certain” God existed. That number in 2014 dropped to 48 percent. Meanwhile, the percentage that said they do not believe in God doubled.
But a majority said that they believed in heaven
That percentage slid slightly from 2007 — dropping from 63 to 59 percent
And even fewer believe there is a hell
Forty-four percent of Mainers said they believed in hell in 2014. Seven years before that, it was 47 percent.
More Mainers feel “spiritual peace and well-being” at least once a week
Pew did not say exactly what it meant by this question, but the percentage of Mainers who said they felt such a feeling at least once a week rose 12 percentage points — from 37 to 49 percent.
More Mainers report feeling “wonder about the universe”
Again, Pew doesn’t provide much context for this one, but more people said they feel this way at least once a week — 40 percent, as opposed to 35 percent in 2007 — and fewer said they seldom or never do.
The percentage of Mainers who said they look to science for moral answers doubled
This one is interesting. When it comes to how people decide what is right and wrong, most Mainers said they use common sense, with only 18 percent citing religion. But 10 percent said they use science as a “sourc[e] of guidance.” That’s double what it was in 2007.
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