Sunday, February 27, 2005
Survey: What Europeans Believe
Seven out of Ten Believe in God – But What About Life After Death?
Seven out ten Europeans believe in God. That is one result of a representative survey conducted on behalf of Reader’s Digest Germany. 8,600 persons in 14 European countries were interviewed November through January. The results are published in the March issue of the magazine.
Poland came out on top with 97 percent of the interviewees saying they believe in God, followed by Portugal (90) and Russia (87). At the bottom of the list are Belgium (58), the Netherlands (51) and the Czech Republic (37).
The fact that someone believes in God does not necessarily mean that he or she also believes in life after death. 53 percent of all Europeans are convinced that physical death is not the end – 18 percent fewer than those who believe in God.
For 43 percent of all Europeans religion is necessary to be able to distinguish between right and wrong. This conviction is strongest in Poland (86), Russia (78) and Switzerland (54), whereas relatively few people subscribe to this view in the Czech Republic (27), the Netherlands (25) and France (24). 79 percent of the Portuguese are convinced that religion is a positive force in the world. 78 percent of the Poles and 72 percent of the Spaniards agree. Belgians (39), Russians (36) and the Dutch (34) are not so sure.
Even 15 years after re-unification Germany is still a deeply divided country as far as religion is concerned. In the former Communist East 77 percent are convinced that God does not exist compared to 22 percent in the West. The belief in God does not necessarily mean that Germans regard him as a personal being.
For 83 percent of all believers God is present in nature, 75 percent regard him as their creator and 70 percent describe him as an ever-present source in their life.
Religious faith is widely appreciated as giving a sense of protection (45) or meaning in life (39). Only one percent say that faith intimidates them.
Almost one in five regards natural disasters, epidemics or other catastrophes as expressions of God’s displeasure.
65 percent of all believers resort to prayer to get in touch with God. Two thirds of all prayers are concerned with “people who are important to me”. Second on the list are peace and justice in the world. Only relatively few prayers have to do with “my sins and my salvation” (13) or “my work and my job” (11).
According to the survey churches are losing their influence. Faith is regarded as a matter for the individual. 61 percent of all Germans say that churches do not have any decisive say in matters of faith.
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