Poll: Prayer considered a comfort in disasters

10/1/2005

In a poll by beliefnet.com, a multifaith informational Web site, 60 percent of respondents said that when natural disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are imminent, they believe prayer can provide comfort, but not alter events.

Nearly 66 percent said they did not think God was punishing humanity by sending the hurricanes. Three percent said Katrina weakend their faith in God, while 47.5 said the storm strengthened their faith. Another 49.5 percent said the hurricanes did not change the level of their faith.

Nearly 8,000 people responded to the online poll, which was conducted between Sept. 22 and 25.