MULTI-NATIONAL, MULTI-LINGUAL GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP SURVEY

1. MULTI-NATIONAL, MULTI-LINGUAL GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP SURVEY Conducted by Delixus 1160 Ridgemont Place Concord, CA 94521 www.delixus.com CEO: Dr. Nazeer Ahmed Email: nazeer.ahmed@delixus.com For The Elijah Interfaith Institute 10 Caspi St. 93554, Jerusalem Israel Director: Rabbi Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein www.elijah.org.il/admin@elijah.org.il

2. Religious Leadership Analysis by Religion

3. What is your current religious affiliation? • 45% of the respondents in this survey were Christian followed by Jewish (13%) and Muslim (10%). Baha'i, Jainism, Confucianism, Taoism and Zoroastrianism responses were insufficient to be included in the analysis.

4. Do you consider yourself religious/practicing by the standards of your religious tradition? • 92% of the Christian and Jewish respondents consider themselves religious/practicing. Only 81% of Hindu respondents consider themselves religious. • Christians and Jewish consider themselves as significant followers of religious/practices by standards compared to Hindus.

5. Are you more or less religious than 5 years ago? • Sikhs at 86% of the respondents are more religious than 5 years ago. Only 39% of the Jewish respondents were more religious than 5 years ago. • Sikhs at 13% of the respondents consider themselves less religious than 5 years ago. Only 1% of the Muslim respondents were less religious than 5 years ago.

6. How central is your religious identity to your overall identity... • Religion is a strong determinant in identity definition across all traditions. Jewish and Christian respondents at 97% each showed the highest identification with religion. • Christian respondents perceive that their religious identity is central to their overall identity more than Buddhist and Hindu respondents. * small base size

7. How important is religious leadership to you? • Religious leadership was important to 86% of Christian respondents and 82% of Sikh respondents. Only 62%of Hindu respondents considered religious leadership to be important to them. • Christian respondents sense more importance for religious leadership compared to other religions like Buddhist, Hindus and Jewish respondents.

8. Has your religious leader alienated or brought you closer to your tradition? • Buddhist and Hindu respondents at 82% each said that their religious leadership brought them closer to their faith. Only 54% of the Jewish respondents said so. • Buddhist respondents think that their religious leader alienated them closer to their tradition compared to Christian and Jewish respondents.

9. Do you look to another religious tradition for inspiration? • A slight plurality of Christian respondents, 51%, look to another religious tradition for inspiration. Muslims at 20% and Sikhs at 28% are least likely to do so.

10. Do you have a local religious leader? • 82% of Christian respondents have a local religious leader. Only 45% of Sikh respondents said so. • Christianity is significantly higher than all other religions in having a local religious leader. • Sikhism are less significant than all other religions in not having a local religious leader.

11. How much do you trust your local religious leader? • Buddhist (87%), Jewish (84%) and Christian (81%) of the respondents trusted their local religious leader. Only 71% of Hindus and 75% of Muslims said so. * small base size

12. How relevant to you is the overall message of your local religious leader? • 87% of Buddhist respondents are satisfied with the message of their local religious leader. Only 71% of Jewish respondents said so. * small base size

13. How satisfied are you with your local religious leader? • Buddhists (87%) are the most satisfied with their local religious leader. Only 57% of the Hindu respondents are. * small base size

14. How important is the role of your local religious leader in preserving the tradition? • 93% of the Buddhist respondents consider the role of the local religious leader important. Only 73% of the Jewish respondents are. * small base size

15. How important is the role of your local religious leader in transforming the tradition? • 84% of Sikh respondents consider the role of their local religious leader important in transforming the tradition. Only 57% of Jewish respondents said so. • Christian, Muslim and Sikh respondents give importance to their local religious leader in transforming the tradition in comparison with Jewish respondents. * small base size

16. How important the following skills are for a local religious leader. (Buddhism) • To the Buddhist respondents, inspired teacher, spiritual mentor and role model were the most important attributes of a local religious leader. Fund raising, technical and management skills were the least important. (n=31)

17. How important the following skills are for a local religious leader. (Christianity) • Role model, spiritual mentor and inspired teacher were the most important attributes of a local religious leader. Fundraiser, technical skills and cultural criticism were the least important. (n=423)

18. How important the following skills are for a local religious leader. (Hinduism) • Hindu respondents consider the most important skills of a local religious leader to be creativity, spiritual mentoring and appeal to youth. Fundraising, scholarship and technological presence were the least important. (n=21*) * small base size

19. How important the following skills are for a local religious leader. (Islam) • To the Muslim respondents, a local religious leader should be a scholar, inspired teacher and role model. Technical skills, fund raising ability and management skills were the least important. (n=70)

20. How important the following skills are for a local religious leader. (Judaism) • For the Jewish respondents, the three most important attributes of a local religious leader were: inspired teacher, role model and scholar. Technological presence, fundraiser and cultural critic were the least important attributes. (n=86)

21. How important the following skills are for a local religious leader. (Sikhism) • For the Sikh respondents, spiritual mentorship, appeal to youth and role model were the three most impost attributes of a local religious leader. Cultural critic, technological presence and fund raising were the least important attributes. (n=42)

22. How important the following qualities are for a local religious leader. (Buddhism) • For the Buddhist respondents, honesty, integrity and wisdom were the most important qualities of a local religious leader. Ethnic background, fame and supernatural senses were the least important. (n=31)

23. How important the following qualities are for a local religious leader. (Christianity) • Love, compassion and wisdom were the most important qualities of a local religious leader for the Christian respondents. Fame, ethic background and prosperity were the least important. (n=423)

24. How important the following qualities are for a local religious leader. (Hinduism) • For the Hindu respondents, humility, prayer life and moral excellence were the three most qualities of a local religious leader. Healer, fame and prosperity were the least important. (n=21*) * small base size

25. How important the following qualities are for a local religious leader. (Islam) • For the Muslim respondents, moral excellence, love and compassion were the most important qualities for a local religious leader. Ethnic background, fame and prosperity were the least important. (n=70)

26. How important the following qualities are for a local religious leader. (Judaism) • Wisdom, integrity and compassion were the three most important qualities of a local religious leader. Supernatural senses, healer and prosperity were the least important. (n=86)

27. How important the following qualities are for a local religious leader. (Sikhism) • For the Sikh respondents, love, humility, honesty and integrity were the most qualities for a local religious leader. Fame, prosperity and ethnic background were the least important. (n=42)

28. Please indicate whether it is appropriate for a local religiousleader to be involved in... (Peace work) • 93% of Sikh respondents consider peace work to be appropriate for a local religious leader. Only 73% of the Jewish respondents consider it to be so. • Sikh and Christian respondents significantly higher than Jewish respondents in believing that it is appropriate for their local religious leader to be involved in peace work. * small base size

29. Please indicate whether it is appropriate for a local religiousleader to be involved in... (Social work) • 87% of Muslim respondents and 86% of Hindu respondents consider it appropriate for the local religious leader to be involved in social work. Only 71% of Jewish respondents consider it appropriate. • Muslim respondents more than Jewish respondents believe that it is appropriate for their local religious leader to be involved in social work. * small base size

30. Please indicate whether it is appropriate for a local religiousleader to be involved in... (Inter-religious dialogue) • 86% of Sikh respondents and 83% of Christian respondents consider it appropriate for a local religious leader to be involved in inter-religious dialogue. Only 62% of Hindu respondents consider it to be so. • Christian respondents more than Jewish respondents believe that it is appropriate for their local religious leader to be involved in inter-religious dialogue. * small base size

31. Please indicate whether it is appropriate for a local religiousleader to be involved in... (Political life) • Only a minority of respondents in all religious faiths consider it appropriate for a local religious leader to be involved in political life. • Christian respondents more than Buddhist and Jewish respondents believe that it is appropriate for their local religious leader to be involved in political life. * small base size

32. Please indicate whether it is appropriate for a local religiousleader to be involved in... (Ecological work) • 86% of Hindu respondents consider it appropriate for a local religious leader to be involved in ecological work. Only 45% of Jewish respondents consider it to be so. • Buddhist respondents more than Muslim and Jewish respondents believe that it is appropriate for their local religious leader to be involved in ecological work. * small base size

33. How does your real life local religious leader measure up to your criteria? • 87% of the Buddhist respondents consider their local religious leader to measure up to their criteria. Only 65% of Muslim respondents consider them to be so. • Buddhist respondents more than Muslim respondents think that their real life local religious leader measure up to their criteria. * small base size

34. How perfect, whatever your understanding of the term may be, do you expect your local religious leader to be... • 93% of Sikh and Muslim respondents expect their local religious leader to be “perfect”. Only 53% of Christian respondents have such expectations. Only 78% of Sikh respondents and 79% of Hindu respondents said so. • Muslim and Sikh respondents more than Christian and Jewish respondents think that their local religious leader are perfect. * small base size

35. How forgiving would you be of the personal faults of your local religious leader? • Christian (87%) and Buddhist (83%) respondents are more likely to be forgiving of the personal faults of their local religious leader. Only 67% of Hindu and 71% of Jewish respondents are so inclined. • Christian respondents more than Muslim, Jewish and Sikh respondents forgive the faults of their local religious leader. * small base size

36. In your opinion, is it required for your local religious leader to be adequately trained in meeting today’s challenges? • 97% of Jewish and Christian respondents consider training to be important for a local religious leader. • Jewish and Christian respondents more than Sikh respondents share the opinion that adequate training is required to be given to the local religious leaders to meet today’s challenges. * small base size

37. Please suggest in what ways your local religious leader should be better trained. * small base size

38. Please suggest in what ways your local religious leader should be better trained. (Cont’d) * small base size

39. Please suggest in what ways your local religious leader should be better trained. (Cont’d) * small base size

40. Please suggest in what ways your local religious leader should be better trained. (Cont’d) * small base size

41. How important to you is your local religious leader’s institutional affiliation. • 74% of Christian respondents consider religious affiliation to be important for a local religious leader. Only 48% of Hindu respondents and 56% of Muslim respondents said so. • Christian respondents more than Muslim respondents give importance to institutional affiliation of their local religious leader. * small base size

42. In your opinion what should be the ideal age of a local religious leader? * small base size

43. Are there issues that your local religious leader is overlooking? • A plurality of respondents, except Buddhist, feel that their local religious leaders are overlooking some issues. * small base size

44. What are the issues that your local religious leader is overlooking? * small base size

45. What are the issues that your local religious leader is overlooking? (Cont’d) * small base size

46. Do you trust your local religious leader more/less than your secular leaders? • 81% of Buddhist respondents trust their local religious leader more than their secular leader. Only 43% of Hindu respondents said so. * small base size

47. Do you have a national/international religious leader? • 68% of Christian respondents have a national/international religious leader. Only 33% of Hindu respondents, 55% of Buddhist respondents, 55% of Sikh respondents, 34% of Jewish respondents and 43% of Muslim respondents said so.

48. How much do you trust your national/international religious leader? • Trust of the national/international religious leader is very high among Buddhist (100%) , Muslim (90%) and Christian (74%) respondents when compared with the Jewish (58%) and Sikh (58%) respondents. * small base size

49. How relevant to you is the overall message of your national/international religious leader? • Buddhist (96%), Hindu (86%), Muslim (84%) and Christian (75%) respondents consider the message of their national/international leader to be relevant. Only 53%of Jewish respondents said so. • Muslim and Christian respondents consider the message of their national/international religious leader to be more relevant than the Jewish respondents. * small base size

50. How satisfied are you with your national/international religious leader? • Buddhist respondents (96%) are significantly more satisfied with their national/international leader than Jewish respondents (53%). • Muslim respondents (83%) are significantly more satisfied with their national/international leader than Christian (66%), Jewish (53%) and Sikh (62%) respondents. * small base size