Almost two-thirds of Americans who believe in God say the coronavirus pandemic is a message from the Almighty telling people to change how they live, according to a new poll.
Those polled who identified as Evangelical Protestants were the most likely to believe strongly that the virus is God warning humanity to change their behavior, the survey from The Associated Press and the University of Chicago Divinity School found.
Some 43 percent of Evangelical Protestants believe the virus is a message, while 28 percent of Catholics and non-Evangelical Protestants also accepted the belief, according to the survey.
Black and Latino respondents were more likely than their white counterparts to believe the pandemic is a sign from above.
Forty-seven percent of black respondents believed strongly it was a message from God, followed by 37 percent of Latinos and 27 percent of white Americans.
A number of people who are not religiously affiliated also believe the virus may actually be a message from a higher power.
“It could be a sign, like ‘hey, get your act together’ – I don’t know,” 52-year-old Lance Dejesus from Pennsylvania told the Associated Press.
“It just seems like everything was going in an OK direction and all of a sudden you get this coronavirus thing that happens, pops out of nowhere,” he added.
With Post wires
