Irreligion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Irreligion is a lack of religion, indifference to religion, or hostility to religion.[1] Depending on the context, it may be understood as referring to atheism, agnosticism, deism, skepticism, freethought, or secular humanism.
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[edit] Conviction
Irreligious people may have convictions equal in depth to those of religious adherents. For instance, followers of the life stance of Humanism regard themselves as just as deeply believing in their life stance as corresponding to any religious belief.
[edit] Irreligious theist
Although people classified as irreligious might not follow any religion, not all are necessarily without belief in the supernatural or in deities; such a person may be a non-religious or non-practicing theist. In particular, those who associate organized religion with negative qualities, but still hold spiritual beliefs, might describe themselves as irreligious. It also must be noted that in countries such as Saudi Arabia, the government essentially requires religion, so the numbers might not be entirely accurate.
[edit] Statistics by country
Irreligion around the world | ||
Country | Percentage stating they have no religion | Source |
Estonia | 75.7% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Albania | 60%-75% | US Department of State - International Religious Freedom Report 2007[3] "Instantanés d’Albaníe, un autre regard sur les Balkans", 2005[4] |
People's Republic of China | 59-71% | Various publications[6] |
Sweden | 46%-85% | Zuckerman, Phil. "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns", chapter in The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, ed. by Michael Martin, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK (2005) |
Czech Republic | 59% (plus additional 8% did not fill in anything) | Czech Statistical Office (2001 census)[7] |
Japan | 51.8% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Russia | 48.1% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Belarus | 47.8% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Vietnam | 46.1% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Netherlands | 44.0% | Social and Cultural Planning Office[8] |
Finland | 28%-60% | Zuckerman, Phil. "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns", chapter in The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, ed. by Michael Martin, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK (2005) |
Hungary | 42.6% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Ukraine | 42.4% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Latvia | 40.6% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
South Korea | 36.4% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Belgium | 35.4% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
New Zealand | 34.7% (of the 87.3% who answered an optional question) | Statistics New Zealand (2006 census)[9] |
Chile | 33.8% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Germany | 32.7% | German Worldview Research Group (2004)[10] |
Luxembourg | 29.9% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Slovenia | 29.9% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
France | 27.2% (23.9% of women, 30.6% of men) | INSEE (2004 survey)[11] |
Venezuela | 27.0% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Slovakia | 23.1% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Mexico | 20.5% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Lithuania | 19.4% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Denmark | 19% | Eurobarometer(2005)[12] |
Australia | 18.7% (of the 88.8% who answered an optional question). 29.9% including no answer/inadequately described | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006 census)[13] |
Italy | 17.8% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Spain | 17% | Centre of Sociological Investigations (2005)[14] |
Canada | 16.2% | Canada 2001 Census[15] |
Argentina | 16.0% | Gallup-Argentina poll, April 2001[16] |
United Kingdom | 15.5% indicated no religion. (23.2% including no answer) | United Kingdom 2001 Census. |
South Africa | 15.1% | Statistics South Africa Census 2001[17] |
United States | 15.0% (of the 94.6% who answered an optional question, out of a sample of 50,281 households in the 48 contiguous states; 21% of the United States Military, 32% if including unknown/refused/no answer) | American Religious Identification Survey (2001), as reported by US Census Bureau; [18] America's Military Population (Population Reference Bureau) [19] |
Croatia | 13.2% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Austria | 12.2% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Portugal | 11.4% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Puerto Rico | 11.1% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Bulgaria | 11.1% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Iceland | 11% | Eurobarometer Poll (2005)[12] |
Philippines | 10.9% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Brazil | 7.4% | National Demografic Census in 2000, conducted by the IBGE. [20] |
India | 6.6% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Poland | 6% | Public Opinion Research Centre (2007)[21] |
Serbia and Montenegro | 5.8% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Ireland | 4.5% | Central Statistics Office Ireland Census 2006[22] |
Peru | 4.7% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Greece | 4.0% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Turkey | 2.5% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Romania | 2.4% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Tanzania | 1.7% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Malta | 1.3% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Iran | 1.1% (Atheism and Agnosticism are illegal[23]) | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Uganda | 1.1% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Nigeria | 0.7% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
Bangladesh | 0.1% | Dentsu Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006)[2] |
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ irreligion. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. Irreligion (accessed: March 16, 2008).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj (Japanese) http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/~honkawa/9460.html English source requested
- ^ Albania
- ^ http://www.membres.lycos.fr/instantanesdalbanie/image/dossierdepresse.pdf
- ^ Adherents.com
- ^ Adherents.com
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ SCP-publicatie "Godsdienstige veranderingen in Nederland"
- ^ QuickStats About Culture and Identity - Statistics New Zealand
- ^ fowid - Forschungsgruppe Weltanschauungen in Deutschland: Home
- ^ Insee - France en faits et chiffres - Pratique religieuse selon l'âge
- ^ a b "Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 - page 11". Retrieved on 2007-05-05.
- ^ 2914.0.55.002 - 2006 Census of Population and Housing: Media Releases and Fact Sheets, 2006
- ^ (Spanish) http://www.cis.es/cis/opencms/-Archivos/Marginales/2600_2619/e260200.html
- ^ 96F0030XIE2001015 - Religions in Canada
- ^ Table Of Statistics On Religion In The Americas
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/population/religion/
- ^ http://www.prb.org/Source/ACF1396.pdf
- ^ (Portuguese) Brazilian 2000 Demografic Census
- ^ http://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2007/K_078_07.PDF
- ^ http://www.cso.ie/census/documents/Final%20Principal%20Demographic%20Results%202006.pdf Final Principal Demographic Results 2006
- ^ The Fate of Infidels and Apostates under Islam | International Humanist and Ethical Union
[edit] See also
- Agnosticism
- Antitheism
- Antireligion
- Atheism
- Brights
- Ignosticism
- Nontheism
- Post-theism
- Postchristianity
- Secular humanism
- Secularity
- Skepticism
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