Beliefs in God around the world: Do you have doubts?
Editor's note: This post is part of a series by Dr. Baker on Our Values about core American values. This week Dr. Baker is discussing belief around the world, and where Americans stand in comparison.
In the past, Americans have been unusual in their beliefs about God — when compared with the rest of the world. While atheism has grown elsewhere, many Americans continued to hold onto traditional values, especially when it comes to belief in God.
But, is this still true today? Is America really so different from other countries, now?
We have a definitive answer, based on the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), a systematic effort to monitor a wide range of beliefs and attitudes in many different nations. A new compilation of ISSP data by Tom Smith of the University of Chicago focuses on beliefs about God and is one of our main sources this week. Before I divulge any findings …
Do you agree or disagree with the following:
I know God really exists and I have no doubts about it.
I don’t believe in God.
These are strong statements. The first one excludes doubts about God’s existence. The second flatly denies the existence of God. There are positions one could take between these two strong statements, but today we focus on these two.
If you agreed with the first statement, then you have plenty of company — at least in America. About six of 10 Americans (61 percent) say God exists without a doubt. A higher percentage is found in only four other nations of the 30 nations included in the analysis: Poland (62 percent), Israel (66 percent) and the Philippines (84 percent). At the low end are Japan (4 percent), East Germany (8 percent), Sweden (10 percent) and the Czech Republic (11 percent).
Only 3 percent of Americans say they don’t believe in God. As we’ve discussed before, there is a vocal but very small minority of Americans who are “good without God.” This percentage is lower in only three nations: Chile, Cyprus and the Philippines. Atheists are the majority in East Germany, with 52 percent saying they do not believe in God. High levels of disbelief (though still minorities) occur in the Czech Republic, France, The Netherlands, and Sweden.
Are you surprised by the continuing uniqueness of Americans when it comes to beliefs about God?
What's your belief concerning god?
Dr. Wayne E. Baker is a sociologist on the faculty of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Baker blogs daily at Our Values and can be reached at ourvaluesproject@gmail.com or on Facebook.
Comments
Tru2Blu76
Wed, Sep 26, 2012 : 5:44 a.m.
It's never been a central question: the belief or non-belief in a god simply isn't important except to note that there's been a consistent attempt to confuse "God" with "religion." The underlying fallacy is the switcheroo pulled by "religious leaders" wherein they re-define belief in God to mean EXCLUSIVELY their own set of beliefs. The inevitable premise is that "our" religion is better than all others. The proof of this is that there are scores if not hundreds of versions of "Christianity." Failure to choose the "right version" is said to condemn our souls to eternal torture. Nothing like a future, undetectable, unverified threat to "encourage" belief in a "belief system." Another clue to this historic scam is seen when observing the utter arrogance of the promoters who say they are "holy men" who are exclusively blessed with the ability to "know the Will of God." These are ordinary (sometime very ordinary, sometimes clearly psychotic) men, not some miraculous version of human being. When a people becomes so gullible that they'll literally commit suicide to show the strength of their faith: then that people is doomed. What's being encouraged is the abandonment of the human mind in favor of "blind faith." We demean and reject extremists in other religions (e.g. islamic extremists) because they call for suicide bombings to kill those who they label as having the "wrong faith." But we see religious pitchmen doing very similar things right here in America. The more prevalent and popular religions become, the lower our values become. That's all you have to know about "our values."
Junne
Sat, May 26, 2012 : 6:02 p.m.
God exists.
Forever27
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 12:33 p.m.
Nice thesis, now prove it.
Veracity
Thu, May 24, 2012 : 2:49 p.m.
.... and the message that Dr. Baker is trying to transmit to us is what? So far this series is lacking in substance. When does it end?
Forever27
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 12:32 p.m.
I don't think he's trying to put a message in here. From what I've read of his articles, he just wants to ignite discussion, which he does a good job of.
hmsp
Wed, May 23, 2012 : 3:18 a.m.
Nice to see some thoughtful comments here, instead of absolutist rants. I used to label myself an atheist, until I acquired a bunch of believers for in-laws, some of whom were pretty zealous. At that point, I had to admit that I could offer no more proof of the absence of a deity than they could of the existence of one. So I decided to call a truce — admittedly, this was a one-sided truce, since I was dealing with religious zealots — but I'm sticking to my non-confrontational guns: Since all one can do is "believe" — no one can really "know" — I now say that all of us are agnostics (in the true sense of the word), but only some of us are honest enough to admit it. In other words, "believe" all you want, you're still an agnostic, incapable of knowing for sure, incapable of offering any proof!
Forever27
Fri, Jul 6, 2012 : 12:31 p.m.
the burden of proof is not on the atheist in this question. It is the religious who put forth the proposition that there is a God, so the burden is on them. The pragmatic approach to these types of thesis would be to start from the side of skeptical and change your opinion when the facts present themselves. Until such thing happens, you remain skeptical (agnostic or atheist).
Rork Kuick
Tue, May 22, 2012 : 4:06 p.m.
Larson & Witham did a famous survey of scientists and sent a letter to Nature in 1998. The biologists in the National Academy of Scientists held the ground on being least believing: 5.5% believed in God, 7.1% in immortality. NAS in general: 7% belief in God. "Greater scientists" in 1914 survey by Leuba: 28% believers. So yes, I am surprised how hard it is to get the rest of Americans on board. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v394/n6691/full/394313a0.html
Brian Westley
Tue, May 22, 2012 : 3:52 p.m.
"I know God really exists and I have no doubts about it. I don't believe in God." Looks like you're stacking the deck. A much more fair comparison would be either: "I believe in God. I don't believe in God." or this: "I know God really exists and I have no doubts about it. I know God really does not exist and I have no doubts about it." You are unfairly comparing all atheists with only a subset of theists. It would be better to compare all atheists to all theists, or "certain" atheists to "certain" theists.
catfishrisin
Tue, May 22, 2012 : 2:59 p.m.
and 3% still believe in Santa Claus...go figure
Sarah Rigg
Tue, May 22, 2012 : 12:44 p.m.
I think the answer to these sorts of belief questions is going to vary a lot by how they're asked. Other studies have consistently shown atheists and agnostics closer to 5 percent, and the number of people who are "unaffiliated" or "spiritual but not religious" is often clocked at about 15 percent in the U.S. http://ffrf.org/publications/freethought-today/articles/huge-news-but-barely-noticed/
u812
Tue, May 22, 2012 : 2:43 a.m.
what would god say about all this envy and middle class war fare.
Mark Druckmiller
Mon, May 21, 2012 : 8:08 p.m.
Per Richard Dawkins (author of "The God Delusion"), many atheists will probably say, "I can't know everything, but due to the lack of evidence, there probably is no god". This looks like an agnostic, but agnosticism is different than atheism. Agnostic is from Greek gnostos, "to know" so agnostic is "not knowing", and theism is "belief" in something so atheism is "no belief". So in other words, atheists are probably mostly agnostic atheists (there's know way to know everything, but you can still NOT believe in a deity). I put myself in this category, I don't know everything in the universe, but since I haven't seen any proof of God or "a god" it is not likely there is one.
Dog Guy
Mon, May 21, 2012 : 6:07 p.m.
Americans know a god exists because we elected him.
DBH
Mon, May 21, 2012 : 4:31 p.m.
"And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence." - Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970)
dotdash
Mon, May 21, 2012 : 4:19 p.m.
I'm surprised that 60% of Americans say they have no doubts that God exists. I've never talked to anyone who had no doubts about God, and I have been a member of 3 different churches and have relatives who go to many other churches. I think the absolute nature of the survey statements may have provided a biased measure of belief. Most people I know are firmly in the gray area between the two extremes. I think a more accurate measure of belief would result from allowing people to choose a point somewhere in the middle.