How religious is your country?

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Vernik

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I live in Slovenia, Europe and i can say that my country is not very religious. About 55% of the entire population is Catholic(our traditional religion) and even less are practising. Among our youth, the number is even lower. Religion is rarely discussed and only about 30% believe in personal God. Church teachings are mostly ignored. Even members of other non-Catholic religions are very secularized.

What about your country?
 
Technically speaking UK (as it stands at the moment…may change) is a “Christian” country, however I would say it was one of the least religious countries. It’s very secularised.

I’m not overly fond of the Church of England (the supposedly main religion) but it’s a shame when you walk in and there is about 3 people in a service. Numbers on paper are higher as it’s still the norm to be married, christened etc in the church even if you are atheist.
 
I’m in the USA.

It isn’t a very religious state, very very few Catholics being practicing, and having a corporate culture which excludes any outward religious expression.
 
Vernik said:
I live in Slovenia, Europe and i can say that my country is not very religious. About 55% of the entire population is Catholic(our traditional religion) and even less are practising. Among our youth, the number is even lower. Religion is rarely discussed and only about 30% believe in personal God. Church teachings are mostly ignored. Even members of other non-Catholic religions are very secularized.

What about your country?
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I’m sorry to hear that, since my grandparents were from Slovenia. In fact, I am Catholic because of my Slovenian grandparents. My father’s family were all Protestant.

It is no secret that the U.S. is becoming less religious, at least when you consider our history. But there are still plenty of religious people here as I’m sure there are in your country. We must be good examples and witnesses for others!
 
My country has the most muslims in the world by percentage, around 88% muslims, 7% protestants, & only almost 3% catholics.

As for the religiosity percentage, I think around 50% religious & 50% secular (my guess).
 
I live in the USA. I once read somewhere that 80% of the USA is Christian, and I don’t doubt that 80% identify as thus. But to be honest I have met a lot of people who call themselves Christian or Catholic, and maybe a couple who really practice. I have yet to meet any really practicing Catholics outside of church.

Then again I live in California, known both inside and out for its liberalism, and most of the Catholics I know get swept away on issues like abortion is a personal choice, modesty is oppression, gay marriage is ok inside and outside the Church. Mostly, I think, because you are regarded as the most intolerant and hateful human being if you do not. I have literally met people who say things like pro-life people don’t deserve to live. Under that kind of pressure it’s no wonder the staggering number of cafeteria Catholics we have.

When it comes to other Christians, I know it’s a very cultural thing in the south and the midwest to be some sort of Christian, usually Protestant but maybe Catholic or whatever. I don’t doubt there are plenty of strongly practicing Christians, but I also would not be surprised to hear that the majority go to church out of habit and believe in God out of default, and do little else.
 
It’s religious in its promotion of secularism; lol. So, while there are a whole bunch of places of worship, it’s still a very secular country. On top of that, I live in the province of Ontario, which, in my estimation, is the most liberal province in Canada. Let’s just look at what’s gone on in the last month alone: our population has just decided to re-elect, as our premier, a woman named Kathleen Wynne, who is openly homosexual.

But it gets worse. As of this posting, Toronto is hosting World Pride; the mother of Pride festivals (LGBT celebrations). On top of that, all kinds of Canadian politicans are in favour of pro-choice and, in the case of the NDP party, are trying to make it incumbent on public schools to push [and promote] the homosexual, abortion agendas in sexual education classes.

It’s frustrating, but it is comforting to know that not everyone in Canada has lost their mind 😉.
 
christofirst said:
I’m sorry to hear that, since my grandparents were from Slovenia. In fact, I am Catholic because of my Slovenian grandparents. My father’s family were all Protestant.
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Actually Slovenia used to be a very devout Catholic country, just before the WWII there were 97% Catholics in Slovenia. Then the communist regime came and secularism started. When we gained independence(1991) there were about 75% Catholics. Now the figure is around 55%, a huge drop, mostly because of the lack of interest for religion among youth.

There are practising Catholics in our country, including me, but most are either very old or living in the rural area. Catholicism is still a strong presence in our culture, but our numbers are dropping fast like elsewhere in Europe.
 
Vernik said:
Actually Slovenia used to be a very devout Catholic country, just before the WWII there were 97% Catholics in Slovenia. Then the communist regime came and secularism started. When we gained independence(1991) there were about 75% Catholics. Now the figure is around 55%, a huge drop, mostly because of the lack of interest for religion among youth.

There are practising Catholics in our country, including me, but most are either very old or living in the rural area. Catholicism is still a strong presence in our culture, but our numbers are dropping fast like elsewhere in Europe.
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That is good to know (that there is still a Catholic presence in Slovenia). My grandparents came to America around 1910, before both World Wars and Communism. My grandfather called himself Austrian, because Slovenia was then part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, but he came from a village near Crnomelj. They were both very devout Catholics.

Fast forward to today, and among my other 3 siblings, I am the only one who still regularly practices the Faith. Even my son says he is agnostic, and does not go to church. So times are definitely changing, and we have a lot of work and praying to do.
 
christofirst said:
That is good to know (that there is still a Catholic presence in Slovenia). My grandparents came to America around 1910, before both World Wars and Communism. My grandfather called himself Austrian, because Slovenia was then part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, but he came from a village near Crnomelj. They were both very devout Catholics.

Fast forward to today, and among my other 3 siblings, I am the only one who still regularly practices the Faith. Even my son says he is agnostic, and does not go to church. So times are definitely changing, and we have a lot of work and praying to do.
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I agree. The entire world with few exceptions like Africa, is turning its back on God.

But Slovenia is not unique in being a largely secularized country, UK is not far more religious and they never had a communist regime. The entire Europe is incredibly secularized. About only half of the people in the European Union believe in God compared to more than 90% in the USA.
 
Vernik said:
I agree. The entire world with few exceptions like Africa, is turning its back on God.
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I’d much rather live in a secular country that’s “turning its back on God” than an African country where my rights wouldn’t be protected and I could be killed for who I love.

A secular government isn’t bad at all and in general, it’s a good thing. We can still live in and promote a secular society while serving God and being good Catholics.
 
The Philippines is mostly Catholic but I often laugh at American/European Catholic religious who think that’s a good thing. My advice when you’re visiting? Don’t get too comfortable with the idea. The relationship between the Church and the people here can make for a nasty surprise. I’m talking 500+ years of irony here señors and señoras. 😉
 
I remember the words of one of the Popes on landing in France, “France what have you done to your Baptism!”
I think the whole of Europe has gone down the path of losing its heritage.
Australia, being such a young country has no heritage as we would understand it colloquially, however anthropologists might disagree.
But I would class us as one of the most secular of nations, in so far that no one cares what your religion is. It is just irrelevant to their assessment of you, (unless you are a Muslim)
At least there is no anti-religious movements as you find in America. We are finding that a lot of Chinese migrants have become Catholic or at least Christian when their parents were agnostic or Buddhist or Taoist under communism.
I believe in the pendulum theory of history, which may mean a resurgence of faith in disaster.
 
Truth_Faith13 said:
Numbers on paper are higher as it’s still the norm to be married, christened etc in the church even if you are atheist.
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Hi - If only that were true. I have read that in the UK around two thirds were baptised until the 1950s, and has since been in steady decline, until now it is less than 20%.
 
I’m in America.

I agree with the poster who said that it depends on the culture in your particular state/community.

I’m in Michigan and religion is still a big deal in many areas of my State. In the city centers, you have a the historically black churches. In my area (Metro Detroit), I know a lot of conservative and liberal mass attending Catholics. The Western part of the State has a huge Dutch/Christian Reformed community (and there are still blue laws in some of these places too) and is more protestant than the Eastern part of the State. In this area, we have a huge (for Michigan) Jewish community, as well as a significant Muslim community. A lot of Orthodox churches based on nationality (Romanian, Greek, Macedonian…etc).

A lot of Americans consider themselves culturally Christian, but they don’t consider themselves Christians at all. A lot of younger Americans are active secularists. That’s reflected in pop culture. As other posted said, our government is pushing for religion to be “private”, not “public”. However, that doesn’t reflect where most citizens actually are when it comes to faith. A lot of the laws that are enacted are forced upon citizens by the courts. We wouldn’t vote for a lot of this stuff if it was put up to an actual vote of the people.

As an atheist relative points out to me, it still matters if national and state candidates believe in God in America - even if we are growing increasingly secular. That’s why you have Hillary Clinton running out to tell us how the Bible is an inspiration to her and why the Obamas’ have to keep insisting that they are Christians. He can’t wait for the day when politicians don’t have to pander to the religious voters and can get elected anyway.
 
I live in the US State of Mississippi. According to the Pew Religious Survey, when polled about their religious observances (other than funerals, weddings, etc) 60% of residents attend AT LEAST once a week. Another 27% attend once or twice a month. Only 11% said that they seldom or never went, and a few refused or did not answer.

I live near Memphis, TN and there are a good number of well-attended Catholic churches there, but Catholics (and Lutherans, for that matter) become increasingly rare when you get past the suburbs.
 
The United States is very religious by profession, but much less so by practice. People claim to be Christian, but it doesn’t affect their life; even those who go to church don’t carry the message away from the church and into their homes, let alone into the world. There is a religion that is practiced heavily, though; materialism. Its parishioners are devout enough to make jihadis look lukewarm.
 
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