305 replies to this topic

[cybercoma]

Louie Gohmert (R-TX) is arguing at this moment that God wants America to drill for oil in North Dakota.

Just in case anyone is actually convinced by AW's argument that religion has little to do with US pols

Edited by cybercoma, 02 December 2011 - 01:48 PM.

[American Woman]

olp1fan, on 02 December 2011 - 04:32 PM, said: toronto star is a conservative supporting paper isn't it?
Er, no.

Good Lord. Even I know that the Toronto Star is considered to be liberal.

[American Woman]

Not at all....religion has an altogether different but real impact on Canada past and present, as does skin "colour".

Exactly.

[msj]

Exactly.

Too often conclusions are drawn about "Canadians" based on the media and reaction to that media, outside Canada too, and 'media reaction' and 'world reaction' and 'Canadian reaction' are all very different things.

In my opinion.

[dre]

Too often conclusions are drawn about "Canadians" based on the media and reaction to that media, outside Canada too, and 'media reaction' and 'world reaction' and 'Canadian reaction' are all very different things.

In my opinion.

Actually both Canada and the US are "moderately" religious countries.

Generally the ammount of poverty and misery in a country is proportionate to the ammount of very religious people, and countries with the least ammount of religious are the happiest and enjoy the highest standard of living.

The most religious countries are countries like Egypt, Sri Lanka, Congo, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Morroco. Im not sure if religion creates poverty and misery, or if poverty and misery causes religion. Need a separate thread for that I guess.

The least religious countries are countries like Denmark, Norway, Hong Kong, Sweden. The worlds top countries in terms of human development.

Canada and the US are in the middle. About 65% of Americans say that religion is an important part of their day to day lives VS about 45% of Canadians. The worlds average is 88% however.

And it depends on where you go inside both countries. Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts are less religious that Canadians on average. But Mississipi, Alabama, and Louisana are much higher. Again... Poor crappy places = more religion.

[msj]

Thanks Dre but I know that as I read the link that AW posted earlier.

I'm being sarcastic in my response here as I have taken AW's words from another, but related, thread and changed them a bit.

Perhaps I should stop being so cheeky.

[Smallc]

The least religious countries are countries like Denmark, Norway, Hong Kong, Sweden. The worlds top countries in terms of human development.

Just to clarify, neither Canada or the US are near the middle on the HDI, they are both near the top - about equal with the above countries, and also, Canada is, though still being moderately religious, quite significantly less religious than the US.

[American Woman]

Actually both Canada and the US are "moderately" religious countries.

Exactly - in spite of claims that the U.S. is wildly religious while religion just doesn't mean that much in Canada.

Generally the ammount of poverty and misery in a country is proportionate to the ammount of very religious people, and countries with the least ammount of religious are the happiest and enjoy the highest standard of living.

The most religious countries are countries like Egypt, Sri Lanka, Congo, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Morroco. Im not sure if religion creates poverty and misery, or if poverty and misery causes religion. Need a separate thread for that I guess.

The least religious countries are countries like Denmark, Norway, Hong Kong, Sweden. The worlds top countries in terms of human development.

I believe Italy is the most religious Christian country of the developed nations, and I don't think Italians are generally poor and/or miserable. Interesting, though, that you assume people living in countries that are not rich are "miserable." I question that. I don't assume "rich" equals happy and "poverty" equals misery.

I think people sometimes tend to equate 'less religious' with 'more educated' or 'more highly developed,' but I think it could be as simple as they tend to take their good fortune for granted - the other side of the "there are no atheists in a foxhole" mindset.

And it depends on where you go inside both countries. Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts are less religious that Canadians on average. But Mississipi, Alabama, and Louisana are much higher. Again... Poor crappy places = more religion.

Yes, it does depend on where one goes inside both countries, as has already been pointed out, but I think many people in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana would be surprised to find out that they live in a "poor, crappy" state.

Appears to me as if you have a bit of stereotyping going on......

[cybercoma]

I think many people in Mississippi ... would be surprised to find out that they live in a "poor, crappy" state.

Those people would be completely oblivious then, since Mississippi is the poorest state in the country (Louisiana and Alabama are in the bottom 10 states as well).

[Smallc]

Those states are in fact poor in comparison to say, New York, or California...just as PEI or New Brunswick are poor in comparison to Alberta or Saskatchewan.

Edited by Smallc, 02 December 2011 - 06:21 PM.

[dre]

Exactly - in spite of claims that the U.S. is wildly religious while religion just doesn't mean that much in Canada.

I wouldnt say it "doesnt mean that much". It just means a lot less up here. There was about a 20% swing in that study I quoted.


Heres another study... the most extensive one Iv found so far...
http://www.ur.umich.edu/0304/Nov24_03/15.shtml

That one surveyed about 250 000 people.

The United States remains among the most religious nations in the world, according to a worldwide study by the University.

About 46 percent of American adults attend church at least once a week, not counting weddings, funerals and christenings, compared with 14 percent of adults in Great Britain, 8 percent in France, 7 percent in Sweden and 4 percent in Japan.

Moreover, 58 percent of Americans say they often think about the meaning and purpose of life, compared with 25 percent of British, 26 percent of Japanese and 31 percent of West Germans, the study says.

"While traditional religious belief and participation in organized religion have steadily declined in most advanced industrial nations, especially in Western Europe, this is not the case in the United States," says Ronald Inglehart, a researcher at the Institute for Social Research (ISR) and director of the ISR World Values Surveys, which were conducted in more than 80 nations between 1981 and 2001

[American Woman]

Those people would be completely oblivious then, since Mississippi is the poorest state in the country (Louisiana and Alabama are in the bottom 10 states as well).

Yes, they would have to be "completely oblivious" not to realize that they live in a CRAPPY state.

Those states are in fact poor in comparison to say, New York, or California...just as PEI or New Brunswick are poor in comparison to Alberta or Saskatchewan.

So PEI and New Brunswick are, in fact, CRAPPY provinces...



@ both of you.

[American Woman]

I wouldnt say it "doesnt mean that much". It just means a lot less up here. There was about a 20% swing in that study I quoted.

The 20% swing isn't taking error into account - as the results put both countries in the same moderate category, which hardly supports your conclusion that it means "a lot less" in Canada.

[Smallc]

So PEI and New Brunswick are, in fact, CRAPPY provinces...

I didn't really comment on that end of things.

[dre]

I didn't really comment on that end of things.

How bout Ill just retract the word "crappy", so we dont have a 10 page long debate about the meanings of words.