Poll: Believers say religion not to blame for violence around world

Published: 2003-10-17

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Even though much of the violence taking place in regions throughout the world is often linked to religious beliefs, a new survey of believers of the world's major faiths says religion is not to blame. And a consensus among the more than 4,000 people worldwide who were polled for the survey released Oct. 16 by the polling firm Zogby International and the religion and classics department at the University of Rochester, N.Y., was that increased religious practices within their countries would only be a benefit. John Zogby, founder and CEO of Zogby International, said the poll reveals that "religion is far more important to people than politics." He also said in an Oct. 16 teleconference that the survey shows that "Most groups acknowledge the possibilities of multiple paths to religious truth and the majority of communities surveyed do not associate religion with trouble, unrest and violence in their own countries."

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