3 8 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 2 - 2 Fa l l 2 0 1 6 Table 3. The Index of Spirituality 1.) How often do you attend church? 2.) Outside of church, how often do you pray? 3.) How often do you keep vigil (i.e., praying at night when one is typically asleep)? 4.) How often do you fast according to the prescribed fasting days of the Church? 5.) How often do you read Orthodox spiritual books (including contemporary books, books on the lives and teachings of the saints, and the Bible)? 6.) How often do you go to Confession? 7.) How often do you take Communion? I calculated a percent score based on the frequency with which the respondent engaged in each of the seven spiritual activities referred to above [8]. The average of all seven scores was used to gauge the respondent’s overall level of spiritual involvement. 4 Findings 4.1 Responses to the OSPIT On the one hand, respondents’ answers to the OSPIT could be interpreted as evidence that they are ideologically inconsistent, holding to both liberal and conservative views (see Table 4). Like most liberals, they reported greater confidence in diplomacy, and believed that the government ought to ensure that all Americans have access to health care, as well as do more to protect the environment. More in tune with conservatives, however, they were opposed to same-sex marriage and abortion rights, and were more critical of government regulation of business. They were split on whether the government should spend more on alleviating poverty (although 60% of Round 1 respondents favored anti-poverty spending) [9]. Table 4. Responses to the OSPIT Statement Agree Disagree There need to be stricter laws and regulations to protect the environment. 65 35 The government should spend more on reducing poverty. 49 51 Same-sex couples should be allowed to marry legally. 29 71 Government regulation of business usually does more harm than good. 61 39 Abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. 76 24 Generally speaking, the best way to ensure peace is through military strength, not diplomacy. 27 73 The government should ensure that all Americans have access to health care. 64 36 On the other hand, such a conclusion only holds if we limit ourselves to the simple liberal-conservative ideological dichotomy. While respondents may not be consistently liberal or conservative, perhaps they are to some extent communitarian (that is, they are at once socially conservative and economic progressive). Indeed, communitarians were among the two largest ideological groups [10]. Liberals, “liberal-communitarians” (i.e., those who held both liberal and communitarian views), and libertarians formed much smaller groups (see Figure 1).
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