Wednesday, July 20, 2005
What Europe believes
A survey of almost 8,600 people in 14 European countries found that while seven out of ten Europeans believe in God, only just over half believe that there is life after death. The survey also revealed wide differences in religious perceptions between nationalities.
In Poland 97 per cent of those interviewed said they believed in God, Portugal had the second highest proportion of believers at 90 per cent and Russia had 87 per cent. At the lower end of the list were Belgium with 58 per cent, the Netherlands on 51 and at the bottom the Czech Republic, where only 37 per cent believe there is a God.
Four out of ten Europeans think religion is necessary to be able to distinguish between right and wrong. This conviction is strongest in Poland (86) and Russia (78), but people in the Czech Republic (27), the Netherlands (25) and France (24) are dubious.
The survey was conducted on behalf of Reader’s Digest in Germany and researchers found that Germany continues to be deeply divided, at least as far as religion is concerned, even 15 years after re-unification. In the former communist east 77 per cent are convinced atheists, compared to 22 per cent in the west.
65 per cent of those claiming to be believers resort to prayer to get in touch with God. Two thirds of all prayers are concerned with ‘people who are important to me’.
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