How does Iowa rank in 'religiosity?'

Rachael Jaster, the daughter of a Jewish mother and a Catholic father, grew up celebrating both faiths' holidays.

For her first three years at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, she went home for major religious holidays. This year, she brought her family and her Jewish heritage to campus.

On Monday, the first night of Passover, Jaster and her family played host to students and faculty at a Seder meal at the Sisters of Mercy convent.

It was important, Jaster said, that people under­stood the holiday. 'Jewish food is very ethnic and very much a part of my history,' said Jaster, 22, a senior nursing student from Crystal Lake, Ill. 'A lot of people don't really know a whole lot about it.' Sharing her faith - and the religions upon which it's built - comes easy for Jaster. According to a recent Pew Forum study that explored the nation's religiosity, the same can be said of many Americans.

Mississippi ranks first in the nation for religiosity, with 82 percent of residents saying religion is important to them, based on worship attendance, frequency of prayer and belief in God. New Hampshire and Vermont are tied for the last spot, with 36 percent of people claiming religion is important in their lives.

How religious are Iowans, though? According to the Pew study, Iowa ranks 32nd in the nation, with 51 percent of Iowans surveyed saying religion is important in their lives. Nicholas Saigh of Chicago is a freshman English major at the University of Iowa. He said he was surprised by just how religious students were when he arrived in the fall in Iowa City.

'You don't have a parent forcing you to go to church,' he said. 'I didn't expect as many students to go.' Faith leaders aren't surprised by the survey results.

'From what I've seen of Iowa, I consider Iowans' religion and their practice of religion to be healthy,' said Zuiko Redding, a Buddhist nun at the Cedar Rapids Zen Center. 'I know lots of religious people - Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu and some Bahai - and my sense is that their religious practice, the practice of Iowa people, tends to be inclusive and warm and dedicated.' UI religion professor Howard Rhodes said the study pairs well with a claim among the religious that society is increasingly secular.

'Especially among religious people, it is very popular to believe that we are increasingly less religious,' said Rhodes.

'One of the things that has always been interesting about that claim is that, simultaneously, when there are these surveys, we continue to be an overwhelming religious so­ciety.' The Rev. Harlan Gillespie said events of the past few years - a historical flood, economic recession and record jobless rates - have helped increase the 'religiosity' of people overall.

'Historically, religiosity rises and falls with crises that people feel in terms of their personal lives and also as a com­munity,' said Gillespie, pastor of St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 1340 Third Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids. 'Those are the times in life when we get challenged enough to think about the possibility or the necessity that we have to know that there's something more to life than what we live everyday.' Some of Eastern Iowa's laypeople aren't so sure.

Sherry Core, 51, of Cedar Rapids, said religion is sometimes 'overrated.' 'Everyone wants you to believe in their religion, rather than your own,' she said.