Interesting Poll Results

At this website is an interesting poll:
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20081023/survey-most-americans-believe-god-uniquely-blessed-u-s_pageall.htm. According to the results, "Most Americans strongly believe that God has uniquely blessed America, and a similar majority believe that the United States should set the example as a Christian nation to the rest of the world, a survey released Wednesday found. Sixty-one percent agree that America is a nation specially blessed by God, and 59 percent believe the United States should be a model Christian nation to the world, according to a poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Inc. for the PBS news program Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and the United Nations Foundation."

The more religiously active respondents - as in those who attend services weekly - more strongly affirmed such an idea. 86% of evangelical Christians agreed with this idea, but only 48% who attend services less regularly than that agree.

Along with this notion of a uniquely received blessing from God is a sense of responsibility. From the article, "People who strongly believe that America is blessed by God and should set a strong Christian example are also more likely to say that the United States is morally obligated to play a significant role in world affairs. Overall, most Americans also believe the United States has a responsibility to be very engaged (24 percent) or moderately involved (70 percent) on the global stage. However, most Americans believe (67 percent) the United States’ relation with the rest of the world is on the wrong track."

This poll was taken at the end of October, prior to the election. I wish we could know how these folks voted and whether they would change their response now compared to then.

A deeper question for me, though, is how did the respondents understand the concept of "being uniquely blessed by God"? Many might point to the natural resources America has; others could tout the religious liberty we enjoy; still others may suggest that our democratic system is the evidence of God's blessings. Or, you could say the whole package shows it.

One other question I have relates to how these folks believe America should be engaged in world affairs. What values do we want to promote for the rest of the world and how will we promote them? What leverage will we employ to get other nations to do what we think should be done? What will we do if these values we promote are not embraced by other countries?

What do you think? Where would you weigh in on the question of unique divine blessings for our country that no other country has? How would you advise the new administration to engage in global diplomacy? What issues should drive our foreign policy in the years to come?