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Tuesday, October 17th, 2017

In these countries, most residents think religion does more harm than good

Author:     Sally French
Source:     Market Watch
Publication Date:     Oct 16, 2017 4:20 p.m. ET
 Link: In these countries, most residents think religion does more harm than good
Stephan:   I make a very sharp distinction between religion and spirituality. This is my view: Religions are entirely man made. They arise when a single individual having a nonlocal consciousness experience shares it.  If they are sufficiently charismatic, and their words fall on an audience open to their message, a cult starts and, if it continues to grow becomes a religion. People write down what the original experiencer says about their experience(s) and the religion develops sacred scripture, priests and all the other appurtenances we associate with religion. In contrast spirituality is the experience of nonlocal awareness. The word itself developed in pre-scientific days when people had no other way to think about what happened to them, but that the gods, or god, devas, spirits, or whatever is culturally relevant was speaking to them. My only interest in religion is anthropological, but my interest in understanding spirituality has been a life long passion. Sadly across the arc of history religion has been and continues to be to this day the source of much of human misery. Interestingly that is a view that is growing in popularity. Here is the latest data.

A majority of residents from countries including Belgium, Germany, Spain, Australia, Sweden and Great Britain agreed with that statement.

Overall, 49% of respondents to the survey said they agreed that religion does more harm than good in the world, while 51% disagreed. And the country LEAST likely to say that religion does more harm than good? Japan.

However, people in Japan are also least likely to agree with the statement that “religious people make better citizens,” and are also least likely to agree with the statement “my religion defines me as a person.”

 See the full breakdown of the results here:

Country
Percent of residents who agree with the statement “Religion does more harm in the world than good”

Belgium
68%

Germany
63%

Spain
63%

Australia
63%

India
62%

Sweden
62%

Great Britain
62%

France
61%

Canada
55%

Hungary
53%

Argentina
49%

Poland
49%

Italy
47%

Serbia
43%

Mexico
43%

Turkey
40%

United States
39%

South Africa
39%

Peru
38%

Brazil
37%

South Korea
36%

Russia
36%

Japan
26%

Source: Ipsos

And while that’s only the popular opinion in 10 countries now, the trend is growing. A number of studies show that younger people are less religious than older people, and religiosity has declined with each successive generation. In a 2015 Pew Research Center report on religion and public life, 36% of 21-to-27-year-olds were classified as unaffiliated, a […]

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1 Comment

  1. Mark R on Tuesday, October 17, 2017 at 10:08 pm

    Hits the nail right on the head!