加拿大人對上帝的信仰與他們對宗教的依戀“脫鉤”

加拿大人對上帝的信仰與他們對宗教的依戀“脫鉤”

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadians-faith-in-god-religion-poll

一項新的民意調查提出了關於宗教本質的深刻問題，以及個人或群體是否最好理解宗教

約瑟夫·布裏恩 2023 年 4 月 6 日 367 條評論

從最嚴格的亞伯拉罕一神教到更神秘和多神教的信仰，加拿大人的信仰和宗教依戀的“脫鉤”隨處可見。
加拿大一個奇怪的人口趨勢是，盡管去教堂和其他正式宗教儀式的人數急劇下降，但精神或宗教信仰仍然存在。

一項新的民意調查從另一個角度揭示了相關的動態，研究員傑克·傑德瓦布（Jack Jedwab）稱之為對上帝的信仰與對宗教的依戀感“脫鉤”。 你可以失去一個，但保留另一個，很多加拿大人都在這樣做。

萊格為加拿大研究協會進行的一項新民意調查顯示，大約一半的加拿大人相信上帝，這一指標在過去幾年中大致保持穩定。

民意調查顯示，加拿大人相信上帝並且感覺與自己的宗教無關，這是很常見的。 但更常見的是，加拿大人對上帝的存在表示深深的懷疑，甚至達到了堅定的無神論的程度，同時又對自己的宗教有著密切的依戀。

“對於某些人來說，你可以質疑自己對上帝的信仰，而不質疑自己的宗教信仰，”蒙特利爾加拿大研究協會主席傑德瓦布說。

看起來很矛盾。 傑德瓦布表示，這引發了人們對宗教本質以及宗教是否最好由個人或群體來理解的深刻問題。

從最嚴格的亞伯拉罕一神教到更神秘和多神教的信仰，這種“脫鉤”隨處可見。 這項於二月和三月進行的民意調查的受訪者包括印度教徒、錫克教徒、佛教徒、猶太人、穆斯林以及天主教徒和新教徒。

但傑德瓦布描述了土生土長的加拿大人的宗教態度中的“軟弱”，這與移民的觀點形成鮮明對比。

無論宗教信仰如何，移民比非移民更有可能“強烈同意”有一位上帝（27.7% 比 49.3%）。 與五分之一的非移民相比，隻有十分之一的移民強烈反對上帝的存在。

傑德瓦布認為，這在一定程度上反映了“來自對上帝信仰高度堅定的地方”的移民。

近三分之二的天主教移民強烈認為有一位上帝，而隻有三分之一的非移民天主教徒則隻有這一比例。 新教的數字也顯示出類似的差距。 這與穆斯林形成鮮明對比，穆斯林不存在這種差距，而且幾乎普遍一致認為有一位上帝。

錫克教徒對他們的宗教團體表現出最高的依戀感，76.9%的人表示他們非常依戀，隻有7.7%的人說“有點”，15.4%的人“不是很依戀”。 猶太人也表現出類似但不太明顯的模式。

與天主教徒相比，大多數天主教徒要麽根本不依戀，要麽不太依戀。 隻有 17.8% 的人表示他們對自己的宗教感到“非常依戀”。

傑德瓦布說，在某些情況下，宗教成為認同某種文化的“委婉說法”——使用文化標識符而不是宗教取向，這在世俗猶太人中很常見，尤其是在魁北克。

“我們越來越多地從多個角度看待自己，”傑德瓦布說。傑德瓦布指出，令人好奇的是，40.9% 的猶太人表示他們非常依戀自己的宗教團體，但隻有 26.1% 的人強烈同意有一位上帝。 錫克教徒的分歧更大：76.9％的人“非常依戀”，隻有46.2％的人“強烈同意”有一位上帝。

在所有其他宗教中，強烈的信仰民意調查高於強烈的依戀。

在加拿大各地，不列顛哥倫比亞省和魁北克省脫穎而出，這些地方對上帝存在的強烈認同實際上弱於對衝或不確定的信仰。 在其他地方，“有些同意”的數字低於“強烈同意”的數字。

在全國範圍內，32.8%的加拿大人強烈同意有一位上帝，而18.5%的人“有些同意”，差距接近15個百分點。 在艾伯塔省，這一比例要高得多，超過 25 個百分點（39.3% 強烈同意，18.5% 部分同意）。 在大草原地區，分歧超過 35 分，隻有十分之一的人表示他們“某種程度上同意”上帝的存在。

Jedwab 建議 B.C. 和魁北克之所以脫穎而出，是因為這兩個地方“政治話語更多地針對世俗主義和對有組織宗教的關注”。

他還指出了農村和城市的鴻溝，以及農村地區在曆史上如何與最強大的信仰實踐聯係在一起。 這種情況也發生了變化，特別是在魁北克省，天主教的衰落伴隨著人們更加虔誠和依戀其宗教的城市移民。

從年齡分布來看，“強烈同意上帝存在”的人數在 18-24 歲年齡組中一開始就很高，為 36.3%，但在 25-34 歲年齡組中這一比例下降到 22.4%，然後又回升 進入30年代。 在75歲以上，“非常同意”的比例最高，達到39.1%，比“有些同意”高出20多個百分點。

大約五分之一的人要麽不知道，要麽寧願保留自己的觀點而不回答。

由於這項民意調查的進行方式——通過在 2 月底和 3 月初對 Leger 民意研究項目的 1,843 名成員進行在線調查，結果根據年齡、性別和地區通過人口普查數據進行加權——無法計算出真正的誤差幅度。 但對類似數量的受訪者進行的隨機民意調查將被認為準確度在 2.5% 以內，即 20 次中的 19 次。

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Canadians' faith in God is 'decoupling' from their attachment to religion

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadians-faith-in-god-religion-poll

A new poll raises deep questions about the nature of religion and whether it is best understood personally or communally

Joseph Brean  Apr 06, 2023   367 Comments

 

The “decoupling” of Canadians' faith and religious attachment shows up everywhere from the strictest Abrahamic monotheisms to more mystical and polytheistic faiths. 

A curious demographic trend in Canada is that spiritual or religious belief has persisted despite the famously steep decline in church attendance and other formal religious observances.

A new poll reveals a related dynamic from another perspective, what the researcher Jack Jedwab calls a “decoupling” of belief in God from the sense of attachment to one’s religion. You can lose one, but keep the other, and plenty of Canadians are doing it.

A new poll by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies shows about half of Canadians believe in God, a measure that has been roughly stable for the last few years.

It is common for Canadians to believe in God and feel unattached to their religion, the poll shows. But it is even more common for Canadians to report deep skepticism about God’s existence, even to the point of firm atheism, while also feeling closely attached to their religion.

“For some people, you can question your belief in God without questioning your religion,” said Jedwab, president of the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies.

It seems contradictory. Jedwab says it raises deep questions about the nature of religion and whether it is best understood personally or communally.

This “decoupling” shows up everywhere from the strictest Abrahamic monotheisms to more mystical and polytheistic faiths. Respondents to the poll, conducted in February and March, included Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims and Christians both Catholic and Protestant.

But Jedwab describes a “softness” in the native-born Canadian religious attitudes that contrasts with the immigrant outlook.

Regardless of religion, immigrants are far more likely than non-immigrants to “strongly agree” there is a God (27.7 per cent compared to 49.3 per cent). Just one in ten immigrants strongly disagrees there is a God, compared to one in five non-immigrants.

Jedwab suggests this partly reflects immigration “from places with a high degree of conviction in terms of belief in God.”

Nearly two-thirds of Catholic immigrants strongly agree there is a God compared to barely one third of non-immigrant Catholics. The Protestant numbers show a similar gap. That is in contrast to Muslims, for whom there is no such gap, and near universal strong agreement that there is a God.

Sikhs show highest sense of attachment to their religious group, with 76.9 per cent saying they are very attached, and just 7.7 per cent saying “somewhat,” and 15.4 per cent “not very.” Jews show a similar but less pronounced pattern.

Compare that to Catholics, of whom a majority are either not attached at all, or not very. Just 17.8 per cent said they felt “very attached” to their religion.

In some cases, religion becomes a “euphemism” for identifying with a culture, Jedwab said — used a cultural identifier rather than a religious orientation, as is common with secular Jews, particularly in Quebec.

“We’re seeing ourselves increasingly in multiple terms,” Jedwab said.

Jedwab points out the curiosity that 40.9 per cent of Jews say they are very attached to their religious group, but only 26.1 per cent strongly agree there is a God. Sikhs have an even wider split: 76.9 per cent are “very attached,” and just 46.2 per cent “strongly agree” there is a God.

In all other religions, strong belief polls higher than strong attachment.

 

 

Across Canada, British Columbia and Quebec stand out as places where strong agreement in the existence of God is actually weaker than hedged or uncertain belief. Everywhere else, the “somewhat agree” numbers are lower than “strongly agree.”

Nationally, 32.8 per cent of Canadians strongly agree there is a God, compared to 18.5 per cent who “somewhat agree,” a split of nearly 15 points. In Alberta, that split is much higher at more than 25 points (39.3 per cent strongly agree, and 18.5 per cent somewhat agree). In the Prairies, the split is more than 35 points, with barely one person in ten saying they “somewhat agree” that God exists.

Jedwab suggests B.C. and Quebec stand out because both are places where “political discourse is more directed at secularism and concern about organized religion.”

He also notes the rural and urban divide, and how rural regions were historically associated with the most robust faith practices. That has changed too, particularly in Quebec, where declining Catholicism is paired with urban immigration of people more devoted and attached to their religion.

Looking at the age progression, the “strongly agree that God exists” numbers start out strong among the 18-24 age cohort with 36.3 per cent, but they dip to 22.4 per cent among people in the 25-34 age group, then climb back into the 30s. At age 75 plus, the “strongly agrees” are at their highest proportion at 39.1 per cent, more than 20 points higher than “somewhat agree.”

Roughly one person in five either does not know or prefers to keep their view to themselves and not answer.

Because of how this poll was conducted — via online survey of 1,843 members of Leger’s public opinion research program in late February and early March, with results weighted by census data according to age, gender and region — a true margin of error cannot be calculated. But a randomized poll with a similar number of respondents would be considered accurate to within 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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