This can produce an observation. Proclaimed atheists aren't really. Or, Atheists make up a far smaller percentage of the population than everyone thinks. Kind of like the REAL percentage of Homosexuals in the population.
Here's a bit from the Article:
Politicians come and go, fashions evolve and the culture shifts with alarming frequency. One thing remains constant, though.
Americans pray. A lot.
Ninety percent have a spiritual interlude with God every day, according to a study released Thursday by Brandeis University. Half pray several times a day, in fact.
"Most prayer writers imagine a God who is accessible, listening, and a source of emotional and psychological support, who at least sometimes answers back," said Wendy Cadge, a sociologist who directed the research.
The experience is intensely personal, with eight out of 10 beginning their prayers with a familiar greeting, like "Dear Lord" or "Hello Jesus."
Three quarters pray for themselves , families and friends - with about a quarter praying for themselves alone. We pray for the big stuff, like health and employment. And we pray for the small stuff, too, like a good parking spot, or finding lost car keys. We ask God to guard loved ones who are airborne, or watch over children left alone for a spell.
Ms. Cadge and her colleagues based their findings on a very direct source - 683 prayers gleaned from four journals handwritten by hundreds of hopeful, grateful or worried patients and visitors at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore. The volumes had been placed near the main lobby over the years and are part of a collection of 40 books; hospital chaplains routinely have set out a blank book every two months since the 1990s.
The pages are filled with the often straightforward thanksgivings and petitions of the passing public:
"Dear Jesus, thanks for staying by my side. I love you," one person wrote.
"Dear Lord: I leave it in your hands," noted another.
A third simply declared, "Love U."
Read the WHOLE THING.
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