Jason Silver

Friday, August 20th, 2004

Religion's Place

Thanks to Todd  Hoare for this link from the oXyGen blog:

"We may be neighbours and seem similar in our values and way of life, but in attitudes toward religion, Canada and the United States are worlds apart. And the gap is widening.

"In broad strokes, Canada is vastly more secular than the U.S. Canadians like religion and politics to keep a comfortable distance and if there are alignments, Canadians line up with Europeans rather than Americans in their views on faith in the public square."

And this one:

"The United States and Canada are increasingly drifting apart in levels of religious commitment," said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew forum.

Most of Africa, many countries in Asia — except Japan — the struggling countries of Latin America all report towering numbers when asked if religion is important. In Indonesia, 95 per cent say yes. In Senegal 97 per cent agree, in Pakistan, 91 per cent and in the United States, 59 per cent.

Canada at 30 per cent is similar to Great Britain and Italy. France and the Czech Republic are lowest at 11 per cent.

It's a bit of a pet-project to me; the differences between the U.S. and Canada. I've lived in Jersey for 5 years, and so have a different perspective than many other Canadians, happy to disdain their older brother to the south. These statistics outlining our different values of religion were disheartening to me.

It seems so raucously arrogant to think the rest of the world is wrong. Other than a few self-absorbed European countries, 95% of the world's population sees a desperate importance to have faith in a God, to embrace religion, to be spiritual.

~Jason