Religion and Social Networking

[mckitterick]

Over on Facebook, I got myself involved in a debate on religion. I know, I know; I should know better. But it's fun, y'know? Anyhow, what prompted the debate was this article on the BBC about how relgions go extinct. Good stuff.

Anyhow, it got me thinking about my interactions there and over here, and I'm curious about my friends' religious beliefs. Am I just living in an insulated bubble as described in that article, or are those national polls on religion just manipulated? So, a poll!

Here it is, a Google Docs poll so anyone can use it: Are you religious? What social networking tools do you use?

Thanks!
Chris

Comments

Re: Hmmm

[sdemory.livejournal.com]

Well, then, you've got a fix. You were raised Southern Baptist, be Southern about it.

Religion's not your problem, it's Church. You're not a Church Person. C'est finis.

[bluetourmaline.livejournal.com]

Came across this from Ms_danson's blog.

Concerning the BBC article, I would recommend highly the book Sacred and Secular by Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart. It basically goes a lot deeper, sociologically and statistically, than this article into why some societies tend to religion while others tend to secularism. Its basic argument is that people tend to be religious when they have a lot of uncertainty about their existence; this is why the poor are generally more religious than the rich, so countries with large social divides tend to be stronger bastions of religion than countries with general equality (that explains why the United States is an anomaly among the wealthy nations of the world in having religion as so powerful a force in society).

Note that most of the countries listed in the article - Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland - are highly developed, very relatively wealthy in the world, and generally strongly favour social equality and social welfare programs (can't speak for the current state of the Czech Republic, or Switzerland's health care system). Being poor in most of these countries, though uncomfortable, is not the huge and frightening burden it would be in a country like, er, Libya. Nor is it as culturally acceptable for the rich to flaunt stretch Hummers as it is in some other states.

The article's writers seriously skewed their sample, I would say. Religion may get extinct? In those cherry-picked countries, maybe. Globally - you have to end poverty first.

[bluetourmaline.livejournal.com]

Adding: this is obviously on a widespread statistical level. On the individual level, I know plenty of people who are well-off physically and financially while religious by any definition above, as well as possibly some who are impoverished or in poor health, and yet non-religious.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Yet another reason to end poverty - as if we needed any more!