Is it surprising? Most Americans believe in God according to this survey:
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/cwn/091506survey.aspx
But why do so many think God is "authoratarian" but not "forgiving"? Obviously there are more out there who believe in the God of the Old Testament who sets down Law, yet do not believe God's promise of sending a Messiah (Jesus) to free us from the heavy burden of keeping the Law perfectly (Gospel--New Testament).
We can't have one without the other... Without the Gospel, all you have is an authoratarian God you fear about crossing the wrong way. That's essentially Islamic philosophy for you. You'd better watch your step or do something really spectacular (crash a plane into a building and take out lots of "infidels") or else you don't have certainty that you'll get into heaven.
But without the Law, you find yourself mixed up in all kinds of things that aren't good for you--stealing, lying, cheating, killing. God forgives, but He loves us too much to simply "walk away from His Creation" (which a good percentage of Americans believe he did) and leave us to rot in our own sorry sinful condition.
God loves us enough to give us the Law for guidance, and He loves us enough to give the Gospel of Jesus declaring His forgiveness when we can't quite keep the Law as we should. It's a win-win situation all around!
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