User:Finn Kat Spring2008
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit] Sociology 101 Project Spring 2008
[edit] Religion in the U.S. compared to other nations
- Different nations vary in religions, the diversity, as well as thecontributing money influence on society. Most people in the world are religious. People don't consider themselves as religious if they are not fully involved in the church by contributing money or attending service every Sunday. On the other hand, it is more rare to be an atheist. For instance, atheism is not common in most countries. One of the few countries that atheism is common in is China. About 24 percent of the Chinese population claim to be “convinced atheists.”[1] Atheism in China is researched to be a result from Communism which stresses atheism. But, one can not put a title on China as the “atheist country.” "We cannot assume that all Arabs are Muslims, all Chinese Buddhists, all Indians Hindus, or all Europeans Christians."[2] This shows that there is a great amount of diversity in religions on cultures.
- "Religions explain why certain norms exist, why they are right, and why they must be obeyed.”[3] Moral behaviors of individuals are suggested by religious loyalties only in societies where the dominant religious congregations give clear rules to follow moral actions. In US and Europe, the gods are conceived as powerful and judgmental whereas in Japan and China, they are conceived as many, small, and not particularly interested in moral behavior. Therefore, religion is unrelated to moral actions.
- The United States is extremely diverse with high levels of religious participation. The United States contains a high amount of religious pluralism. Americans tend to contribute more money to the church compared to other countries. There are an estimated 15,000 denominations in the United States. What makes the United States unusual is that it is an extremely free religious economy. Americans are able be free in their religious preferences and beliefs. As far as the diversity of followers geographically, church membership and attendance in the Western United States is lower than the other states.
- The United States compared to other countries is much more diverse. America is comparable to Canada. Church membership is relatively high in both countries. Canada is estimated about 61 percent and the United States reported 63 percent.[4] Canada does not have as much religious pluralism as the United States with only a little over 200 denominations existing compared the 15,000 in America.[5] The United States continues to grow in conservative religions whereas Canada is slowly increasing. As far as Europe compares to the U.S., church attendance in Europe is far less. For example, in Iceland and Denmark, weekly church turnout is less than 4 percent and only 6 percent in Sweden.[6] Also, Europe is much more involved in cult movements than the United States. Europe has about twice the amount of cults.
- Latin America is becoming increasingly more Protestant. There are 22 percent Protestant congregations in Chile, 20 percent in Guatemala, and 16 percent in Brazil.[7] With this rapid growth, it is estimated that the Protestant religion will be the majority in Latin America in the next twenty years. The government has not been moving against non-Catholics anymore which leaves an open door for religious pluralism to build in Latin America.
- Russia and Eastern Europe has collectively been trying to move towards atheism. The cause of this may be from the collapse of the Soviet Union as well as the communist government inflicted by the Russian army at the end of WWII. The communists strived to wipe out all traces of religions in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. As a result of this wipe out, there are only about 5,000 religious congregations of all faiths still in the Soviet Union. This is about the size of Kentucky.[8] Even though the communist government thinks they have succeeded in destroying religion in their nation, research and data have concluded that atheists are few and far in between in Russia and Eastern Europe. The majority of people claim themselves as being religious. Russia and Eastern Europe is currently underway to revive their religious economy.
