| Show 1 By ELMO ROPER Senior partner ) ! from the religious fold Twenty-twper cent of the people say they attend religious services more often than they did ten years ago but 29 per cent say they attend less often Forty-on- e per cent say their attendance is about the same Protestants and Jews attend church and synagogue less often than they used to Catholic attendance has stayed about the same Religion isn’t all Sunday is about Almost tied in importance as a reason for looking forward to Sunday is that it is a day of rest and relaxation Sunday is a day for taking it easy for napping on the Couch and for just sitting around People may do things but they’re relaxed about it and it doesn’t feel like work Sunday seems to be the only day active Americans can be idle without HOW THEY ENJOY SUNDAY: GOOD o MEDIUM AND POOR CHURCH GOERS Those whogo:Olten are improper 56 per cent disapproved political speeches on TV and 77 per cent were against candidates talking to people as they left church This conservatism runs over into America’s thinking about Sunday "blue laws” Only essential stores and services should be open in most opinions The essentials include: drugstores newsstands small grocery stores Most of us don’t mind bowling alleys being open on Sunday nor do we object to movies But a majority feels that night clubs liquor stores bars auto dealers discount houses’ supermarkets and department stores should remain closed The idea of life without Sunday evoked for many Americans something close to the end of civilization "There would be a loss in spiritual values” was one of the milder reactions expressed by 53 per cent "Religions would die out” was the prediction of 45 per cent and 44 per cent said "Life would be a mess” day that’s for families This leads us to the third cornerstone on which most people build their Sunday: the opportunity it offers for being together with their families For most Americans Sunday is a social day — and family in this case includes relatives living elsewhere When people go out it usually is to visit relatives or friends And if they don’t go out to see others it’s likely that they will have visitors Church may be the reason people look forward to Sunday But family in 66 per cent of our interviews is what makes Sunday of greatest value A typical Sunday might run something like this: Americans will sleep a bit later on Sunday than the rest of the week However 83 per cent of the country is up by nine in the morning One per cent however sleep past noon Morning is the time for a leisurely breakfast reading of the Sunday paper and going to church After dinner some people take a drive to visit relatives or friends others just sit around and relax A few people work around the house or the yard on Sunday Many get involved in discussions about present family problems and future plans These might include such subjects as the children’s education where to go on a vacation or the next sizable family expenditure — a car dishwasher or a new living-roorug Sunday evenings find most families watching television and our typical American called it a day by 11 o’clock We found some nostalgia for the Sundays of a generation ago There is a feeling expressed by 24 per cent of our respondents that families were even closer then than they are now Nineteen per cent felt it used to be a quieter simpler more restful day with fewer distractions Sixteen per cent said that Sundays were better a ' generation ago because people were more religious and spent more time in church m rv ' SATISFYING family-centere- d ' Are we getting better ? 1 m ' 4 MONOTONOUS --- - Drawings by Burmoh Burns - Yet others think Sundays have improved The main contrast with the Sundays of yesteryear seems to be that we are more active today On a typical Sunday for example two thirds of us travel in the car an average of 35 miles It’s clear that we want to keep the Sunday in t Sunday per cent of the people questioned felt that political rallies on Sunday Sixty-eigh- feeling guilty The of Elm a Roper and Associates The incessant pounding that social critics have been making has we found affected the thinking of many Americans Fifty eight per cent of the people we talked to said that we are less considerate of our fellow man today than in our parents’ generation Forty-fiv- e per cent said we are less honest dnd truthful today 42 per cent said we are less religious today However of special significance in view of today’s troubled race relations is the fact that three times as many Negroes as whites felt people are more considerate of their fellow man today than in the past One survey of Sunday cannot reveal the whole moral climate of a nation but it does pro- vide clues Obviously there are many dark spots and we Srp tight to be concerned about them But every society has had problems from the beginning of time and we should not be surprised that our society has some headaches too However one cannot help being reassured when reading over the results of these interviews Despite the anxiety and tensions the confusions and complexities of modern life there still exists in this nation a deep and sound reservoir of people whose lives are grounded in the things that count It is this reservoir which is encouraging to me a heartening example that at its core America is basically healthy and well thi ihd |
