Post-Sandy damage in Union Beach, New Jersey on November 12, 2012. Courtesy of CNS/Eric Thayer.

Where do you go to check the weather?

The Bible?

According to a recent survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, approximately 36% of Americans believe that the recent natural disasters and weather scares (i.e. Hurricane Sandy) align with Biblical prophecies about the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The statistic is interesting — that’s one-third of the United States’ population, considering that the poll’s sample included 1,018 people. But with a closer look, we find a deep denominational divide:

A majority of white mainline Protestants (65 percent) and Catholics (60 percent) believe the disasters are the result of climate change, while nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of white evangelical Protestants believe the storms are evidence that we are in Biblical ‘end times.’

More data shows even starker differences between Christians and those who are non-religious. About 69% of unaffiliated Americans connect the changing weather patterns to climate change, as compared to 60% of Catholics and 50% of white evangelicals.

In the words of research director Daniel Cox,

They’re experiencing the same weather, but how they perceive it is very different.

Many of those who trace the weather patterns to the end of the world also think that global warming advocacy and activism is useless if “the end of the world” is near. This opinion is not petty — as Cox continued,

It’s hardly a fringe belief. It’s nearly four in 10 Americans who are embracing this.

Do you think theological beliefs should influence decision-making in public policy? Or is it irresponsible for people to remain stagnant because they associate scientific weather patterns to a religious figure?