The Gallup International Millenium Survey
On the eve of the new millenium, Gallup International conducted a survey on religious belief around the world. This was called the Gallup International Millenium Survey. The tone of the survey itself is very religiously arrogant, so don't read it if that kind of thing makes you angry, like it does for me. One cannot doubt the stupidity of the woman who wrote that release.
But enough complaints. What are the important results of this survey and what can we conclude about it, is what I will examine.
The bad news
The general idea of the survey is bad news. The average of religious adherence in the entire world is 87%, and the average of theism is 92% - which is certainly higher than we were led to believe. The percentage is particularily high in North America at 91% and in Latin America at 96%. Despite living in more affluence than most people on the planet, Americans and Canadians seem to be highly superstitious. Furthermore, 63% of people said religion was important to their lives, and half of people in the Americas think God is important in their lives.
Interestingly, despite the idea that North Americans are religious fanatics, it seems it is the most tolerent continent. Only 20% of North Americans think their religion is the only true religion, compared to the 31% average. The result is similar in West Europe. The reason for this singular pattern is not obvious to me, and would surely merit more examination.
Furthermore, the stereotype of the fanatical female gender seems to also be confirmed, albeit to a reduced extent - 69% of women, compared to 57% of men, find religion important in their lives. Women are also more committed to going to church regularily, 35% to 28% for men.
Another received idea in the atheist memesphere seems to be at least not discarded by the data - the idea that religion is heavily determined by culture. Politics seems to have little effect. While in North America religiosity is very high, South-East Asia, which also incorporates some of the freest countries in the world, has lower religiosity (Hong Kong is a noticeable example, being an extremely free country and having only 35% of religious believers).
It seems, at first glance, that the conclusion we must draw is that the cause of atheism is for now hopeless. While the laws are much less strict regarding religious observance than they were in previous centuries, the memetic situation is not any better than it was previously. But, there is a very important caveat...
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