# Most and least religious parts of your country



## tvdxer (Feb 28, 2006)

What do you think?

U.S., most religious: The South (meaning Southcentral / Southeast), and to a lesser extent, Midwest, particularly the Great Plains.

U.S., least religious: The Northwest and Vermont


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## schmidt (Dec 5, 2002)

Hmmm the country here is pretty religious overall, but I could say the *Northeast* is the *most* and the *South* is the *least* religious region.


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## ØlandDK (May 29, 2005)

most: West Jutland
less: The rest


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## fettekatz (Oct 17, 2007)

most: Bavaria, upper Rhineland
least: big cities, north+east Germany


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## Federicoft (Sep 26, 2005)

Most: the North-East, the South and generally rural provinces.
Least: South Northern and North Southern regions (Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, Marches) and big cities.


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## icracked (Feb 15, 2007)

Most:The South
Least: Hawaii (Only 33% of citizens believe in some sort of god).


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## rilham2new (Oct 28, 2006)

*Indonesia*

*Most religious*
Islam : N.A.D (Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam), West Sumatra, and South Kalimantan (South Borneo) << Western Indonesia ... more prosperous ..
Christian : Papua, North Sulawesi (North Celebes) , NTT (Nusa Tenggara Timur) << Eastern Indonesia .. less prosperous
Hindu : Bali << ... quite prosperous

*Least religious* *what the heck the least religious is ??? hno: 
Overall: ... Jakarta and most part of western Java  .. << soooooo WIDE GAP ,, between the most prosperous and least prosperous hno: ... ;p~


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## Pacific_leopard (Apr 9, 2006)

^^ does religion have something to do with how prosperous a country will be?


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## Pacific_leopard (Apr 9, 2006)

anyways... I was thought that religion doesn't matter anyway. As long as you have faith in God.


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## fettekatz (Oct 17, 2007)

^^ that's already a religion 

d'uh


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## xote (Jun 7, 2007)

In the US, you will find that the least and most religious parts of the country correspond mostly to poverty level: the poorer your part of the country is, the more religious you are.

:yes:


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## xote (Jun 7, 2007)

fettekatz said:


> ^^ that's already a religion
> 
> d'uh


:crazy:

No it is not. That is called believing in the existence of a higher power. That is not the same as religion.


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## Quintana (Dec 27, 2005)

We have our very own bible belt here. This map shows the popularity of the Christian fundamentalist SGP party during the 2003 elections:


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

Religious adherents by US county:


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## Occit (Jul 24, 2005)

Here in Venezuela i think least religious cities are Valencia, Guayana City and Merida. Most religious cities are Maracaibo, Barquisimento, Guanare, Margarita Island and Trujillo.


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## Bahnsteig4 (Sep 9, 2005)

Least: Vienna
Most: Tyrol (aka The Holy Land)


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## EszettRocks (Oct 25, 2007)

Northern Finland I guess.. especially Ostrobothnia is often referred as the Finnish Bible Belt. Conservative Laestadianism is fairly popular there.. not as popular as Lutheranism though.


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## FIDEL CASTRO (Nov 20, 2007)

Occit said:


> Here in Venezuela i think least religious cities are Valencia, Guayana City and Merida. Most religious cities are Maracaibo, Barquisimento, Guanare, Margarita Island and Trujillo.


There are no leasts in SOUTH aMERICA.

Everybody is religious. Mostly Catholic.


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## xote (Jun 7, 2007)

FIDEL CASTRO said:


> There are no leasts in SOUTH aMERICA.
> 
> Everybody is religious. Mostly Catholic.


:crazy:


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## Quintana (Dec 27, 2005)




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## FIDEL CASTRO (Nov 20, 2007)

Quintana said:


>


 
New York is more religious than Miami.


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## foadi (Feb 15, 2006)

i don't think las vegas would fit very well in jesusland


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## FIDEL CASTRO (Nov 20, 2007)

That map is idiotic.:bash::bash::bash::bash::bash:


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## foadi (Feb 15, 2006)

it's from 2004 usa presidential elections i tihnk


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## TheRhino (Dec 31, 2007)

More suburban evangelicals voted for Democrats from what I heard.


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## iampuking (Mar 10, 2007)

I can't think of a exceptionally religious region in the UK, perhaps Northern Ireland?


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

Quintana said:


>


Yay! I'm in the US of Canada! epper:


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## Hanshin-Tigress (Apr 10, 2007)

i like how florida is always shown in those retarded maps when only the extreme northern part has anything to do with the "south" and is religious.


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

If that map used the data from the election in 2000...Florida would have been our exclave.


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## foadi (Feb 15, 2006)

i tought everting except south florida was jesusland


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## FIDEL CASTRO (Nov 20, 2007)

foadi said:


> i tought everting except south florida was jesusland


You thought wrong. South Florida is not that religious. New York is more religious than Miami.


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## foadi (Feb 15, 2006)

i said everting except south florida


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## Xelebes (Apr 1, 2007)

Canada: Lethbridge-Taber area of Alberta and Mission-Hope area of BC.

Least religious: Gay Village, Toronto?


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## Ch.G Ch.G (Aug 4, 2007)

Just because you're religious in the U.S. doesn't mean you're some crazy gun-slinging gay-bashing Evangelist. That's just Bush-Cheney-Rove propaganda, you know, saying that the only true form of Christianity is their horrible, narrowly defined version of it.


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

Hanshin-Tigress said:


> i like how florida is always shown in those retarded maps when only the extreme northern part has anything to do with the "south" and is religious.


but where should the extremist upper class cubans be put into?


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## FIDEL CASTRO (Nov 20, 2007)

eklips said:


> but where should the extremist upper class cubans be put into?


Extremist upper class Cubans?


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## Occit (Jul 24, 2005)

FIDEL CASTRO said:


> There are no leasts in SOUTH aMERICA.
> 
> Everybody is religious. Mostly Catholic.


*I don't think so... at least here in Venezuela, catholic church is very devalued. *


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## schmidt (Dec 5, 2002)

FIDEL CASTRO said:


> There are no leasts in SOUTH aMERICA.
> 
> Everybody is religious. Mostly Catholic.


What the hell are you talking about?


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

FIDEL CASTRO said:


> Extremist upper class Cubans?


yes, aren't they a big part of southern florida?


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## Libra (Jun 3, 2006)

In Iran the most religious city is Qom with the least being Tehran.


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## FIDEL CASTRO (Nov 20, 2007)

eklips said:


> yes, aren't they a big part of southern florida?


Never knew they existed.


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## skydivercity (Dec 5, 2007)

xote said:


> In the US, you will find that the least and most religious parts of the country correspond mostly to poverty level: the poorer your part of the country is, the more religious you are.
> 
> :yes:



:yes: thats true everywhere though
when you have nothing or no one, you have God
you have to hold on to something otherwise life sucks


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## ØlandDK (May 29, 2005)

Never seen Scarface?:lol:


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## wik (Dec 30, 2004)

in Poland

the most religious: South-East - former so called "Galicja" (part of the Habsburg Empire/Austrian-Hungarian Empire between 1794-1918), esp. region of Tatra Mountains, c.a 75 %-80% of population are regularily practicing christians (i.e. they regularily attend mass on Sunday etc.), then the rest of Eastern Poland (the most rural part of the country) and the Upper Silesia (pol. Górny Śląsk, germ. Oberschlesien)

the least religious: Warsaw (the capital): less than 30% of regurarily practicing catholics (still, even there, most people - c.a 85-90% declare that they believe in God, though a lot of them in practice don't pay any attention to religion), "the new territories" (former German lands annexed in aftermath of the II World War), traditional industrial cities (except for the Upper Silesia) like Lodz or Sosnowiec (which had quite strong socialist movement already before the era of the communist regime 1945-89)

Source: statistics of the Catholic church (sorry, data available only in Polish)


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## skydivercity (Dec 5, 2007)

is that chair in your avatar from "the ring"


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## ØlandDK (May 29, 2005)

skydivercity said:


> is that chair in your avatar from "the ring"


Don't know if it's in The Ring. It's a chair called Wishbone Chair (or Y Chair) by a chair-designer called H.J. Wegner. I just really like that chair and it's really comfortable to sit in


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## ZOHAR (Jul 16, 2005)

Israel:
Haifa 4% are religious
Tel Aviv 5%
Jerusalem 48%


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## Þróndeimr (Jan 14, 2003)

The lastest survey indicated that Norway is the least religious country in Europe. 36% sais they are religious, towards 66% average in the world. 

The most religious parts of Norway is the southern/southwestern part of Norway around Kristiansand and Stavanger. Least religious in Northern Norway.


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## Quintana (Dec 27, 2005)

wik said:


> in Poland
> 
> the most religious: South-East - former so called "Galicja" (part of the Habsburg Empire/Austrian-Hungarian Empire between 1794-1918), esp. region of Tatra Mountains, c.a 75 %-80% of population are regularily practicing christians (i.e. they regularily attend mass on Sunday etc.), then the rest of Eastern Poland (the most rural part of the country) and the Upper Silesia (pol. Górny Śląsk, germ. Oberschlesien)
> 
> ...


I would call Poland a very religious country though. Our catholic churches are now full again thanks to the thousands of Poles that are working here. Some churches even have Polish priests and mass in Polish. I think the Poles are also being "blamed" for the fact that the Catholic church is now bigger than the Church of England in Britain for the first time since the foundation of the latter.


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## Federicoft (Sep 26, 2005)

Þróndeimr said:


> The lastest survey indicated that Norway is the least religious country in Europe.


Still it has a State church. :dunno:


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## xote (Jun 7, 2007)

skydivercity said:


> :yes: thats true everywhere though
> when you have nothing or no one, you have God
> you have to hold on to something otherwise life sucks


Yes, but it is not common in other parts of the world for these parts of the country to feel so smug with themselves because of their faith that they are not part of 99% of the world is going to hell. They then take money from the hell-bound in a stunning display of absolute hypocrisy.

uke:


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## Þróndeimr (Jan 14, 2003)

Federicoft said:


> Still it has a State church. :dunno:


Yeah, strange as almost all other European countries have left that a long time ago. But it won't be too many years before the State Church dissapare, hopefully very soon.


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## Paddington (Mar 30, 2006)

The most religious part of America is not the South, but Utah. The least religious is probably Massachusetts.


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## FIDEL CASTRO (Nov 20, 2007)

Paddington said:


> The most religious part of America is not the South, but Utah. The least religious is probably Massachusetts.


I think is Alaska and Hawaii.


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## Republica (Jun 30, 2005)

in the UK then of course Northern Ireland is the most religious. As for england wales and scotland i really am not sure. In scotland there is likely to be a large religious following in some areas similar to NI.

In Wales and England though religion is not important in the slightest for the overwhelming majority in every part of the country as far as I can see. Even many of those who would call themselves "Christian" when asked will have never really been to a church bar weddings! I know many people who say they are Muslim yet they drink alcohol and never ever go to a mosque. Its just not a big think for the MAJORITY, not all of people here.


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## Arbais (Dec 22, 2007)

Poland:
most - Silesia, Lesser Poland
least - Warsaw, Lodzkie Voivodship, West Pomerania


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## ZOHAR (Jul 16, 2005)

in Israel (from 2007 poll)
8% call themself ultra ortodox
9% religious
46% seculars (23% atheists)
38% conservative (22%non religious)


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## tvdxer (Feb 28, 2006)

Paddington said:


> The most religious part of America is not the South, but Utah. The least religious is probably Massachusetts.


That's probably true. Forgot all about that state. And not to mention the immediate region surrounding Utah (parts of Wyoming and Idaho). 

However, in terms of major regions, the South is probably the most religious.


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## Intoxication (Jul 24, 2005)

The most religious part of Pakistan would be the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. 3% of Pak's population lives there. The least religious would be urban areas in Punjab and Sindh province.


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## Metsada (Oct 22, 2006)

Quintana said:


> I would call Poland a very religious country though.


The capitalist way of life will probably put an end to that; I would say that religion will be reduced to the same level as in other western countries in a few decades (at most).


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

ZOHAR said:


> ^^yes...


Re-read my post mate... How can you *not* be religious and believe in God?


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

Tubeman it's very simple, being religious means following an institutionalised dogma.

Believing in god just means believing in a higher being, you can be a deist and not follow a religion with it's set of norms and beliefs.


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## ZOHAR (Jul 16, 2005)

Tubeman said:


> Re-read my post mate... How can you *not* be religious and believe in God?


in Judaism to be religious means=to keep shabbat,to eat kosher,to fast in some days,,to attend in synagogues etc...
just 34% of israelis attending in synagogues


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## sarflonlad (May 13, 2005)

tvdxer said:


> I wonder if there's any link between the U.K.'s decreasing religiosity and stuff like this.


No, that's probably the link between the increase in wages and disposable income versus the decrease in real terms cost of alcohol combined with a legacy of Victorian laws that meant Brits never learnt how to treat alcohol properly.

Whenever I meet someone and religion comes up - if they say they are part of a religion and actively go to church/mosque or whatever, then I lose maybe 90% of the respect I had for them initially. If they said they don't ascribe to a religion but still believe in God, then maybe I lose around 30% of the respect I had for them.

Countries where people are religious = failure of schools to encourage critical and free thinking if you ask me. Oddly however the UK political scene still gives a huge amount of unapologetic time to the Church of England, Catholic Church and Muslim organisations. And every second word in the national anthem is about God.


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

eklips said:


> Tubeman it's very simple, being religious means following an institutionalised dogma.
> 
> Believing in god just means believing in a higher being, you can be a deist and not follow a religion with it's set of norms and beliefs.


So animism etc aren't religions?

I think your definition is incorrect


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

ZOHAR said:


> in Judaism to be religious means=to keep shabbat,to eat kosher,to fast in some days,,to attend in synagogues etc...
> just 34% of israelis attending in synagogues


What you're describing is being *observant* or would be described as being 'practicing'.

Being religious simply means holding a belief.


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

Tubeman said:


> So animism etc aren't religions?
> 
> I think your definition is incorrect


Animism is the belief in souls, it is an entirely different matter. Some religions incorporate animists beliefs in their dogma, some don't.

As for the definition of religion, I'm sorry tubeman but this is the one that has been broadly used in anthropology and sociology since the 18th century (and in philosophy beforeso), you are the one making a mistake in this case.

Religion is something fundamentaly social, institutionalised and marked by rituals.
Even if it is common to mix it with the concept of metaphysical belief, it's not the same thing.


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

Oh c'mon - the belief in everything superstitious is "religious" be that a belief in souls, gods, cinderella or the all mighty Odin...

You can't believe but be non religious more than you can be drinking but "non intoxicated" :|


It doesn't matter what shape you think "the almighty power" has if you think "devinity" is involved in the world or it's past you are religious!


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## ZOHAR (Jul 16, 2005)

Tubeman said:


> What you're describing is being *observant* or would be described as being 'practicing'.
> 
> Being religious simply means holding a belief.


so 46% not practicing Judaism at all
17% practicing all (8% ultra ortodox and 9% religious)
others practicing partly

anyway Judaism is different than Christianity


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

FREKI said:


> Oh c'mon - the belief in everything superstitious is "religious" be that a belief in souls, gods, cinderella or the all mighty Odin...
> 
> You can't believe but be non religious more than you can be drinking but "non intoxicated" :|
> 
> ...


Sorry bro, but that's not what religion is about at all.


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## Metsada (Oct 22, 2006)

Federicoft said:


> ^^
> I still don't entirely understand this attitude towards religious people (and I'm an atheist myself).
> 
> I mean... what would happen if someone would say "I'm proud in my country the % of gay/black/atheist people is low!".
> ...


:applause:


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## tvdxer (Feb 28, 2006)

sarflonlad said:


> No, that's probably the link between the increase in wages and disposable income versus the decrease in real terms cost of alcohol combined with a legacy of Victorian laws that meant Brits never learnt how to treat alcohol properly.
> 
> Whenever I meet someone and religion comes up - if they say they are part of a religion and actively go to church/mosque or whatever, then I lose maybe 90% of the respect I had for them initially. If they said they don't ascribe to a religion but still believe in God, then maybe I lose around 30% of the respect I had for them.
> 
> Countries where people are religious = failure of schools to encourage critical and free thinking if you ask me. Oddly however the UK political scene still gives a huge amount of unapologetic time to the Church of England, Catholic Church and Muslim organisations. And every second word in the national anthem is about God.


Let me just say that as a religious person, I really don't care what kind of respect you have for me. I'm sure many of the religious people you so wisely look down upon feel the same way.


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## sarflonlad (May 13, 2005)

tvdxer said:


> Let me just say that as a religious person, I really don't care what kind of respect you have for me. I'm sure many of the religious people you so wisely look down upon feel the same way.


I wouldn't expect anything less from you or others because religious people are locked in their own little world of dictated belief systems. You've been brainwashed. Haha!

My personal favourite aspect of religious people's trains of thought is that most decide to pick and choose their religious convictions e.g.

"Oh I'm Catholic, but gays should be entitled to marry" - but by the very nature of practicing and following Catholicism you give the pope fuel to try and influence secular governments on matters like the morality of gay marriage.

I laugh hard at anyone who subscribes to a religion. They take it so seriously and get really offended and defensive when you question it - particularly because their answers are nonsense and deep down they know it


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## Metsada (Oct 22, 2006)

Federicoft said:


> I mean... what would happen if someone would say "I'm proud in my country the % of gay/*black*/atheist people is low!".


What's wrong with black people? I just noticed this. That would be a racist supremacist attitude (obviously).


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## cernoch (Aug 7, 2007)

Czech Republic: eastern parts, especially northern Moravia
(but nealy everyone is an atheist and I'm proud of it)



ZOHAR said:


> so 46% not practicing Judaism at all
> 17% practicing all (8% ultra ortodox and 9% religious)
> others practicing partly
> 
> anyway Judaism is different than Christianity


I absolutely agree with your signature!


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## tvdxer (Feb 28, 2006)

I forgot to mention: I'm proud of the U.S. for being one of the most religious countries among developed nations!


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

eklips said:


> Animism is the belief in souls, it is an entirely different matter. Some religions incorporate animists beliefs in their dogma, some don't.
> 
> As for the definition of religion, I'm sorry tubeman but this is the one that has been broadly used in anthropology and sociology since the 18th century (and in philosophy beforeso), you are the one making a mistake in this case.
> 
> ...


LOL I spy someone who looked up the word on Wikipedia and regurgitated the first sentence they came across!

Animism is used to describe the *religion* of the millions of people who do not follow organised religions... It's obviously not a single religion but an umbrella term for thousands of different tribal faiths in parts of Africa, Asia, Australasia and amongst Indigenous Americans. The common threads are beliefs in higher power(s), spirits of the dead, souls, and spirits of elements (e.g. sun, moon, water etc) whic need to be respected / appeased. Pre-Christian Paganism in Europe is a perfect example.

"Religion is something fundamentaly social, institutionalised and marked by rituals" ...In what way do these numerous animist faiths not adhere to this description? They all have their own rituals of offerings, sacrifice, dances, etc and are an integral part of the respective cultures.

I would argue that any belief system with adherants is a religion and its followers religious. If only organised religions were religions then why would the prefix 'organised' need to be added to it?

You're arguing a lost cause...


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

tvdxer said:


> I forgot to mention: I'm proud of the U.S. for being one of the most religious countries among developed nations!


I guess you can, but it depends where in the US, really...


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## ZOHAR (Jul 16, 2005)




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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

Tubeman said:


> LOL I spy someone who looked up the word on Wikipedia and regurgitated the first sentence they came across!
> 
> Animism is used to describe the *religion* of the millions of people who do not follow organised religions... It's obviously not a single religion but an umbrella term for thousands of different tribal faiths in parts of Africa, Asia, Australasia and amongst Indigenous Americans. The common threads are beliefs in higher power(s), spirits of the dead, souls, and spirits of elements (e.g. sun, moon, water etc) whic need to be respected / appeased. Pre-Christian Paganism in Europe is a perfect example.
> 
> ...


Where have I argued that the tribal beliefs of asia, africa or pre-christian europe were not religious? It is religious if it is social, and in most cases it is.

Since you do not seem to accept arguments by their sake, I'll use a few sources.

Religion according to 

http://www.nelson.com/nelson/sociology/glossary5.html#r
*religion:* A system of beliefs, symbols, and rituals, based on some sacred or supernatural realm, that guides human behaviour, gives meaning to life, and unites believers into a community.


http://www.soci.canterbury.ac.nz/resources/glossary/religion.shtml
A set of beliefs adhered to by the members of a community, involving symbols regarded with a sense of awe or wonder, together with ritual practices in which members of the community engage. Religions do not universally involve a belief in supernatural entities. Although distinctions between religion and magic are difficult to draw, it is often held that magic is primarily practised by individuals rather than being the focus of community ritual. [Anthony Giddens, Sociology. London: Polity Press, 1997:584]

Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx who are commonly seen as the three founders of modern sociology (anthropology could be said to be slightly older but for different reasons that I am not going to enumerate here because they are irrelevant, I will not mention it), ie the scientifical study of human society.

All of them studied religion, even if they all used very different aproachs, and with ALL of them, religion was defined as something fundamentaly social and institutionalised.

Even in philosophy prior to these three, where the point has never been to scientifically study human society, religion was seen as something fundamentaly ritualised.

Which is why philosophers such as Rousseau made such a big deal differenciating *deism* and the belief in a supreme metaphysical being in general with *religion*.

If you insist on using religion as a simple synonym with *theism*, you are first ignoring that not all religions are theists, such as Budhism. And you are secondly ignoring all the work that has been done on the subject for centuries, which is okay when it is done out of ignorance, but a mistake when it is done with knowledge.


Tubeman, with all the respect I owe you, your are just arguing for the sake of arguing here, it's like if I tried to convince you of something on light-train riding when I know simply nothing about it.


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