By Will Lester, Associated Press, 03/20/02

WASHINGTON -- The public's belief that religion is playing an increasing role in American life grew sharply in the months after Sept. 11, but now has slipped back again, a poll found.

Polls taken near the end of the year showed more than three-fourths of the public felt the influence of religion on American life was increasing. The poll released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press showed that more than half -- 52 percent -- now think religion's effect is in decline -- about the same number who felt that way a year ago.

"Religion was in the air after Sept. 11 in a way that hadn't been the case for a long time and may not be the case for a long time in the future," said Andrew Kohut, director of the center. "I've never seen such a dramatic change disappear so quickly."

Kohut said there was a great deal of religion involved in public discussions of the attacks and "an awful lot of people were praying."

By a 2-1 margin, people said the September terrorist attacks were the result of too little religion in the world rather than too much. But many also acknowledged the role that religion plays in conflict. Two-thirds said religion plays a significant role in most wars and conflicts in the world.

The poll also found that:

--More than six in 10 -- 63 percent -- said religion is very important in their lives and another 24 percent said it was fairly important. That's higher than 20 years ago, when approximately half said it was very important.

--While the public holds a generally favorable view of Muslims in this country, people were about evenly divided on their overall opinion of Islam, the Muslim religion.

--Half said Islam is no more likely than other religions to encourage violence. When people were asked whether "some religions" are more likely to encourage violence than others, almost half agreed, and four in 10 disagreed.

The poll of 2,002 adults was taken for the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life from Feb. 25-March 10 and has an error margin of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.