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Author Topic:   Demographics of Religion

Hugo Rune posted 05-14-99 01:15 PM ET
I was watching a TV Show today where they were showing demographics about what kind of religious feelings there were in contemporary swedish society. I thought, Why not make a comparison between the religious comositions of various countries' populations? I thought it might explain certain cultural differences.
The best way would be using SnowFire's list of beliefs. Here's a recap:
"Nihilistic Atheism
This is a combination of Atheism and Agnosticism, sort of. There is no God, it�s pointless and irrelevant to argue about it, and whatever we do with our lives isn�t going to make much difference in the end. This can easily lead to hedonism, or total amoralism where the only thing that stops a person from doing something is the likelihood of getting caught and the consequences of the act, not any supposed morality.
"Atheism
The belief that there is no God. God is only a creation by our brains to ease the concept of dying and make it acceptable. If we accept that we must eventually die, then God and his paladins become irrelevant to modern society.
"Agnosticism
If Gnosticism was a cult based on "knowledge," then A-gnosticism is built on lack of knowledge. Anything that cannot be proven by science must remain unknowable forever. There is no other way to acquire knowledge. Since science cannot prove nor disprove the existence of a God, whether one exists must remain unknown forever.
"Deism
There is a God. He created the universe and the laws that run it. He then set it in motion, and since he designed the laws so well, no further intervention was needed. The usual comparison is with the universe and a clock- a complex but orderly item, who doesn�t need the clockmaker anymore, but was definitely wrought by Him. Popular in the 19th century as a "compromise" between science and religion.
"Spiritualism
There may or may not be a God, depending on the variety you are. But New-Agey things like the transmigration of souls, ESP, and other paranormal phenomena exist. There are things that are unexplainable by science. Depending on your variety, it can be anything from prayers to various Gods being answered to true magicians. Those tend to be extreme cases though.
"Theism
There is a God. He/It/Them created the universe. Not only that, he actively intervenes at times, to answer prayers, affect the course of human history beneficially, and various other things depending on the religion. There is probably an elaborate system of rewarding and punishing people for their lives depending on how they lived, so good and virtuous behavior is encouraged probably. On the other hand, some theist religions are rather worldly and entrance to heaven might be gained by giving lots of worldly comfort to the priests or priest class."
All in the words of SnowFire.
Now, what surprised me in the swedish statistics was that only about 25% actively believed in a single, personal god (i.e. Theists and Deists), while even less (about 15%) were atheists. The others were mostly Agnostics and Spiritualists. So, over half of the swedish population thought there was "some sort of thing holding everything together, but not a person". I find this exceedingly strange.
How are the demographics in your countries?
DeStrider posted 05-14-99 02:21 PM ET

I happen to be a theist, and I'd say a good 50-70% of American society would also be Deist/Theist. But then again, I'm pulling those numbers out of the air based on my immediate environment.
God Bless...
ejrolon posted 05-14-99 04:01 PM ET
down here about 80% are catholic and the rest are christians or protestants but the strange part is that most of them want to be spiritualist. go figure.
Kefaed posted 05-14-99 04:24 PM ET
Well, I'd agree with DeStrider on the American religous demographic, though I'd say more along the lines of 60% - 80%. The other 40% - 20% would probably be mostly Agnostics and "I don't give a damn"'s. Regionally, the midwest's pop. is practically all Christian/Catholic. After that, Islamic and Jewish religions, and then Buddhists, Hindus, and Spiritualists. Very few Neo Pagans and cults.
High Priest posted 05-14-99 07:08 PM ET
Hmmmm...
I'd put the number closer to 85%(theist/deist).
But I got that info from a poll, so I'm not terribly sure.
Anyway, where I live its probably 99%(US has its own regional demographics).
When it comes to religion, there are somewhat more Protestants than Catholics, about 6 million Muslims, a whole lot of Jews, and miscellany mostly found in San Fransisco.
High Priest
Master of his own religion
Black Dragon posted 05-14-99 09:04 PM ET
Actually, in the exit polls in the 1998 elections, it was somewhere around 4 percent(dont have know the exit poll's URL, does anyone) who when asked their religon, answered "none". So probably about only 2-6% atheist/agnostic here. The poll only had, if I remember correctly: Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Other, and none. I think about 15% said other, so at least 80% theist/deist,
Maybing around 90% theist/deist?
In addition, the USA has the highest church attendence per capita of any nation(not counting the vatican)
Galen posted 05-14-99 09:36 PM ET
I fall in Atheism AND Agnostism! What about that?
jig posted 05-14-99 09:58 PM ET
Galen, that doesn't make sense. You cannot be an atheist if you're agnostic. Atheists don't believe in God/s while agnostics just don't know.
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Author	Topic: Demographics of Religion
Hugo Rune	posted 05-14-99 01:15 PM ET I was watching a TV Show today where they were showing demographics about what kind of religious feelings there were in contemporary swedish society. I thought, Why not make a comparison between the religious comositions of various countries' populations? I thought it might explain certain cultural differences. The best way would be using SnowFire's list of beliefs. Here's a recap: "Nihilistic Atheism This is a combination of Atheism and Agnosticism, sort of. There is no God, it�s pointless and irrelevant to argue about it, and whatever we do with our lives isn�t going to make much difference in the end. This can easily lead to hedonism, or total amoralism where the only thing that stops a person from doing something is the likelihood of getting caught and the consequences of the act, not any supposed morality. "Atheism The belief that there is no God. God is only a creation by our brains to ease the concept of dying and make it acceptable. If we accept that we must eventually die, then God and his paladins become irrelevant to modern society. "Agnosticism If Gnosticism was a cult based on "knowledge," then A-gnosticism is built on lack of knowledge. Anything that cannot be proven by science must remain unknowable forever. There is no other way to acquire knowledge. Since science cannot prove nor disprove the existence of a God, whether one exists must remain unknown forever. "Deism There is a God. He created the universe and the laws that run it. He then set it in motion, and since he designed the laws so well, no further intervention was needed. The usual comparison is with the universe and a clock- a complex but orderly item, who doesn�t need the clockmaker anymore, but was definitely wrought by Him. Popular in the 19th century as a "compromise" between science and religion. "Spiritualism There may or may not be a God, depending on the variety you are. But New-Agey things like the transmigration of souls, ESP, and other paranormal phenomena exist. There are things that are unexplainable by science. Depending on your variety, it can be anything from prayers to various Gods being answered to true magicians. Those tend to be extreme cases though. "Theism There is a God. He/It/Them created the universe. Not only that, he actively intervenes at times, to answer prayers, affect the course of human history beneficially, and various other things depending on the religion. There is probably an elaborate system of rewarding and punishing people for their lives depending on how they lived, so good and virtuous behavior is encouraged probably. On the other hand, some theist religions are rather worldly and entrance to heaven might be gained by giving lots of worldly comfort to the priests or priest class." All in the words of SnowFire. Now, what surprised me in the swedish statistics was that only about 25% actively believed in a single, personal god (i.e. Theists and Deists), while even less (about 15%) were atheists. The others were mostly Agnostics and Spiritualists. So, over half of the swedish population thought there was "some sort of thing holding everything together, but not a person". I find this exceedingly strange. How are the demographics in your countries?
DeStrider	posted 05-14-99 02:21 PM ET I happen to be a theist, and I'd say a good 50-70% of American society would also be Deist/Theist. But then again, I'm pulling those numbers out of the air based on my immediate environment. God Bless...
ejrolon	posted 05-14-99 04:01 PM ET down here about 80% are catholic and the rest are christians or protestants but the strange part is that most of them want to be spiritualist. go figure.
Kefaed	posted 05-14-99 04:24 PM ET Well, I'd agree with DeStrider on the American religous demographic, though I'd say more along the lines of 60% - 80%. The other 40% - 20% would probably be mostly Agnostics and "I don't give a damn"'s. Regionally, the midwest's pop. is practically all Christian/Catholic. After that, Islamic and Jewish religions, and then Buddhists, Hindus, and Spiritualists. Very few Neo Pagans and cults.
High Priest	posted 05-14-99 07:08 PM ET Hmmmm... I'd put the number closer to 85%(theist/deist). But I got that info from a poll, so I'm not terribly sure. Anyway, where I live its probably 99%(US has its own regional demographics). When it comes to religion, there are somewhat more Protestants than Catholics, about 6 million Muslims, a whole lot of Jews, and miscellany mostly found in San Fransisco. High Priest Master of his own religion
Black Dragon	posted 05-14-99 09:04 PM ET Actually, in the exit polls in the 1998 elections, it was somewhere around 4 percent(dont have know the exit poll's URL, does anyone) who when asked their religon, answered "none". So probably about only 2-6% atheist/agnostic here. The poll only had, if I remember correctly: Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Other, and none. I think about 15% said other, so at least 80% theist/deist, Maybing around 90% theist/deist? In addition, the USA has the highest church attendence per capita of any nation(not counting the vatican)
Galen	posted 05-14-99 09:36 PM ET I fall in Atheism AND Agnostism! What about that?
jig	posted 05-14-99 09:58 PM ET Galen, that doesn't make sense. You cannot be an atheist if you're agnostic. Atheists don't believe in God/s while agnostics just don't know.