Americans Unaffiliated With Religion Are More Religious Than Some European Christians
Talk Happy Heathens
Join LibraryThing to post.
1aspirit
In 2017, Pew Research Center surveyed almost 25,000 people in 15 countries in Western Europe then compared their results with data previously gathered in the USA. Researchers discovered three things from the comparison.
1. Although the proportion of the adult population in the USA who identify as religious (77%, or more than three-fourths) is about the same as those who do in Western European countries, US Americans are much more religious than Western Europeans in terms of belief and ritual activity. This is based on answers to questions such as "Do you believe in God with absolute certainty?" and "Do you pray daily?" For instance, 68% (slightly more than two-thirds) of US Christians pray daily while only 18% of Western European Christians do—including 38% in the Netherlands, 12% in Denmark, 9% in Germany, and 6% in Britain.
2. Although the proportion of the adult population in the USA who identify as "nones"—meaning those who identify as atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular—is about the same as across Western European countries, American nones are also much more religious than European nones. For instance, US nones were nine times more likely than European nones to say in the surveys that they "believe in God with absolute certainty". The European religiously unaffiliated who said they are absolutely certain in God ranged from just 1% in Austria, France, Germany, and the UK to 12% in Portugal, with a regional median of 3%. The number for the US nones was 27%.
"The notion that religiously unaffiliated people can be religious at all may seem contradictory," was a response in The Atlantic, "but if you disaffiliate from organized religion it does not necessarily mean you’ve sworn off belief in God, say, or prayer."
3. American nones are at least as religious as Christians in several European countries, including France, Germany, and the UK. When asked if they believe in God with absolute certainty, 27% of the American nones and 23% of the Europeans who identify as Christians said they do.
Sources:
• https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/05/american-atheists-reli...
• https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/05/u-s-adults-are-more-religious-t...
I figured what I learned today would be interesting to this group.
Were you surprised by any of the results?
1. Although the proportion of the adult population in the USA who identify as religious (77%, or more than three-fourths) is about the same as those who do in Western European countries, US Americans are much more religious than Western Europeans in terms of belief and ritual activity. This is based on answers to questions such as "Do you believe in God with absolute certainty?" and "Do you pray daily?" For instance, 68% (slightly more than two-thirds) of US Christians pray daily while only 18% of Western European Christians do—including 38% in the Netherlands, 12% in Denmark, 9% in Germany, and 6% in Britain.
2. Although the proportion of the adult population in the USA who identify as "nones"—meaning those who identify as atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular—is about the same as across Western European countries, American nones are also much more religious than European nones. For instance, US nones were nine times more likely than European nones to say in the surveys that they "believe in God with absolute certainty". The European religiously unaffiliated who said they are absolutely certain in God ranged from just 1% in Austria, France, Germany, and the UK to 12% in Portugal, with a regional median of 3%. The number for the US nones was 27%.
"The notion that religiously unaffiliated people can be religious at all may seem contradictory," was a response in The Atlantic, "but if you disaffiliate from organized religion it does not necessarily mean you’ve sworn off belief in God, say, or prayer."
3. American nones are at least as religious as Christians in several European countries, including France, Germany, and the UK. When asked if they believe in God with absolute certainty, 27% of the American nones and 23% of the Europeans who identify as Christians said they do.
Sources:
• https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/05/american-atheists-reli...
• https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/05/u-s-adults-are-more-religious-t...
I figured what I learned today would be interesting to this group.
Were you surprised by any of the results?
2LolaWalser
Were you surprised by any of the results?
Not in the least. As I had occasion to mention before, one of the strongest and most bewildering parts of the culture clash I felt on moving to the States was the extraordinary obsession with religion. It was really peculiar because the countries I had lived in before (including Syria) certainly teemed with religious markers, to say nothing about people, and yet religion simply didn't loom in people's lives in quite the same way. I'm still not sure how to pinpoint the differences exactly... maybe it's something to do with population density, different public life (in Europe social life doesn't revolve that much, let alone solely around the church), available entertainment, education, the welfare state...
Not in the least. As I had occasion to mention before, one of the strongest and most bewildering parts of the culture clash I felt on moving to the States was the extraordinary obsession with religion. It was really peculiar because the countries I had lived in before (including Syria) certainly teemed with religious markers, to say nothing about people, and yet religion simply didn't loom in people's lives in quite the same way. I'm still not sure how to pinpoint the differences exactly... maybe it's something to do with population density, different public life (in Europe social life doesn't revolve that much, let alone solely around the church), available entertainment, education, the welfare state...
3GaryMcGath
I have a bunch of friends in Germany and have spent enough time there to notice that casual religion is much more a part of the culture there than in the US. By "casual religion," I mean going through the forms of religion without necessarily paying attention to the beliefs behind them. For example, on one Thursday I missed a bus because it was on the Sunday schedule for Ascension Day, which most Americans probably aren't even aware of. I've seen the Ten Commandments on a courthouse building, and no one seems to care. There's a church tax, but as I understand it, you have to opt in to pay it. (It gets you privileges such as getting married in the church you choose.) The Germans I know, though, don't pay much attention to religion.
