-[ Quoting William Elliot , to Dennis Menard ]-
WE> occurred. All indications are that America is very religious. This
WE> mass of data would be easier to grasp if put in a graph.
I agree. The following is, unhappily, the best I'm able to do.
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This poll, funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts of Philadelphia,
is based on 3,000 telephone interviews across the United States and 3,000
across Canada conducted between Sep 19 and Oct 10/96 by the Winnipeg-based
Angus Reid Group. Results for each country are accurate within a margin of
1.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin increases for regional
references within those samples. For comparisons between the two countries,
the margin of error is 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
CANADA REFORM LIBERALS
Highly committed Evangelical Protestants 33+ % near 40%
Mainline Protestant faiths
. (United, Anglican, Baptist, etc.) 66+ %
Highly committed Roman Catholics favoured
U.S.A. DOLE CLINTON
Highly committed Evangelicals favoured
Mainline Protestant faiths favoured
Less-committed Evangelicals favoured
Roman Catholics favoured
No Religious affiliation favoured
CANADA
. PM's RELIGION EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN MUSLIM ATHEIST
. Most voters Who cares Who Cares Don't Care
U.S.A.
. PRESIDENT'S RELIGION EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN MUSLIM ATHEIST
. Most voters favoured 50+ % 43%
Highly committed Evang favoured < 50 % rejected
Those cross-border distinctions, says Gerald Vandezande, national public
affairs director for the Toronto-based Ecumenical lobby group Citizens for
Public Justice, point to a greater willingness by Canadians to judge
candidates by performance rather than their professed religion. "Canadians
are interested in what a candidate represents in terms of core values," says
Vandezande. Americans, on the other hand, says historian Mark A. Noll of
Wheaton College in suburban Chicago, are "more sensitized to religious
labels."
Religion's role in politics became more clearly defined when the respondents
were asked about their responsibility to the process beyond merely choosing
candidates. Responses on both sides of the border, said the polling firm's
president, Angus Reid, show profound differences between the two countries,
"which on many other dimensions attitudinally look the same." But the level
of conviction in both countries on all three points diminished sharply among
respondents who attended church less frequently.
Traditional Christian values should have a major influence in politics:
. Canada = 45%
. U.S.A. = 56%
Christians should become involved to protest those values:
. Canada = 46%
. U.S.A. = 64%
Religion is important in my political thinking:
. Canada = 19%
. U.S.A. = 41%
CANADA
Believe that religion is important in political thinking:
. Nationally = < 33 %
. Regionally = HIGHEST % in Prairies (Alberta/Saskatchewan/Manitoba) &
. Maritimes (New Brunswick/Prince Edward Isle/Nova Scotia/
. Newfoundland)
. Regionally = LOWEST % in Quebec
U.S.A.
Believe that religion is important in political thinking:
. Regionally = HIGHEST (49 % in U.S. South) and (41 % in Midwest)
. Regionally = LOWEST % higher than any Canadian figures
Report religious affililation
. Christian None or Agnostic/Atheist
CANADA 68 % > 20 %
U.S.A. 76 % 13 %
Report strongest Christian affiliation
CANADA Quebec, New Brunswick/Prince Edward Isle/Nova Scotia/Newfoundland
U.S.A. U.S. Midwest and U.S. South
Report High-committment
. Evangelical Mainline Protestant Catholic
CANADA approx 50 % approx 14 % approx 20 %
U.S.A. approx 50 % approx 33 % approx 33 %
Prayer was a far more popular religious activity in both countries than
weekly churchgoing and Bible reading.
Report Weekly Prayer
CANADA = < 50 % ( lowest = British Columbia = approx 40 %)
U.S.A. = approx 75 % (highest = U.S. South = 77 % )
Read Bible every week
CANADA Maritimes Only = > 30 %
. (New Brunswick/Prince Edward Isle/Nova Scotia/Newfoundland)
U.S.A. U.S. South Only = > 50 %
Church attendance
CANADA lowest in British Columbia (west) and Quebec (central)
U.S.A. highest in U.S. South and U.S. Midwest
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WE> Canadian bible belt is Ontario and Quebec? The US bible belt is the
WE> South and the plane states? It's hard to understand the survey beyond
WE> what I selected.
Whisper when you say that ... No! :)
The "Bible Belt" is easier to define in the U.S. because your individual
states are generally much smaller than Canada's provinces, with the excep-
tion of the Maritimes. The "prairies" are comprised of Alberta and Saskat-
chewan and Manitoba; the "maritimes" of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince
Edward Island, Newfoundland. The Maritimes and the Prairies tend to be the
most conservative (ie, religious) parts of the country. Quebec is unique;
though the majority, by far, is Catholic ... religious excess is "tempered"
by the propensity of the culture to prioritize enjoyment vs guilt. :)
Canada's religious affiliations, vs U.S., break-down as follows (ie, latest
figures I have for these "specific" categories):
Canada(1991) Catholic Protestant Jewish Muslim None
. 45.7 36.3 1.2 1.0 12.4
. USA(1995) 21.0 85.3 2.1 1.9 8.7
In the north (the Yukon and the Northwest Territories) we tend to be quite
religious about our drinking and attempts to keep warm in winter. However,
perhaps I'm being a touch irreverent. :)
--
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