About half of combat veterans (48%) say their combat experiences didn’t make much of a difference when it came to their religious faith, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. veterans. Four-in-ten say their combat experiences strengthened their religious faith, while one-in-ten say the experiences weakened their religious faith. At the same time, majorities of veterans report that their combat experiences had a positive impact on other aspects of their lives. Most combat veterans say that their experiences made them feel closer to those who were in combat with them (69%), showed them that they were stronger than they thought they were (67%) and changed their priorities about what is important in their life (56%).
