Jump to content

Irreligion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 65.110.19.202 (talk) at 18:55, 22 February 2011. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Irreligion is an absence of, indifference towards, or hostility towards religion.[1] Depending on the context, it may be understood as referring to atheism, nontheism, agnosticism, ignosticism, antireligion, skepticism, freethought, antitheism, apatheism, non-believer, secular humanism, marxism, or deism.

It can also mean those who believe in God or a higher spiritual power, but do not participate in religion itself.[2] Deism and Spiritual But Not Religious are two examples of the latter. Irreligion, therefore, is not synonymous with Atheism.[3][4][5] Worldwide, the overall number of irreligious people is in decline.[6]

History

Worldwide

Main article: Irreligion by country
Atheists, agnostics and nonreligious, by the Dentsu Institute (2006) and Zuckerman (2005)[7]
Gallup Religiosity Index 2009[8]
Irreligion on the World
Country Percentage of population that classifies themselves as irreligious Source
Estonia 75.7 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Azerbaijan 74 Gallup poll[10]
Albania 60 US Department of State - International religious freedom report 2006[11]

L'Albanie en 2005[12]
Some publications[13]

China 59-93 Some publications[14]
Czech Republic 59 (8% did not make any choice) Czech statistical bureau (2001 census)[15]
Japan 51.8 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Russia 48.1 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Belarus 47.8 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Sweden 46-85 Zuckerman, Phil. "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns", Part of The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, Michael Martin, modified by the University of Cambridge

Pres: Cambridge, BK (2005)[16]

Vietnam 46.1 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Netherlands 44.0 Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau[17]
Hungary 42.6 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Ukraine 42.4 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Latvia 40.6 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
South Korea 36.4 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Belgium 35.4 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
New Zealand 34.7 (from 87.3% who answered the optional question) Statistics New Zealand (2006 census)[18]
Chile 33.8 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Germany 32.7 German Worldview Research Group (2004)[19]
Luxemburg 29.9 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Slovenia 29.9 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
France 27.2 (23.9% of women, 30.6% of men) INSEE (2004 survey)[20]
Venezuela 27.0 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Slovakia 23.1 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Mexico 20.5 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Lithuania 19.4 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Denmark 19 Eurobarometer(2005)[21]
Australia 18.7 (from 88.8% who answered the optional question) Australian Statistics Bureau (2006 census)[22]
Italy 17.8 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Spain 17 Socialogical Research Centre (2005)[23]
United Kingdom 16.8 (from 92.7% who answered the optional question) UK National Statistics Bureau (2001 census)[24]
Canada 16.2 Canada 2001 census[25]
Argentina 16.0 Gallup-Argentina survey, April 2001[26]
South Africa 15.1 Güney Afrika 2001 census[27]
United States of America 15.0 (of the 94.6% who answered an optional question, out of a sample of 50,281 households in the 48 contiguous states) US-American Religious Classification Research (2001), US Census Bureau [28]
Croatia 13.2 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Austria 12.2 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Finland 11.7 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Portugal 11.4 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Puerto Rico 11.1 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Bulgaria 11.1 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Philipines 10.9 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Turkey 10.5 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
India 6.6 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Eski Serbia and Montenegro 5.8 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Ireland 4.5 Central Statistics Bureau of Ireland 2006 census[29]
Poland 4.6 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Iceland 4.3 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Greece 4.0 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Romania 2.4 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Tanzania 1.7 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Malta 1.3 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Iran 1.1 (Atheism and Agnosticism are forbidden) Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Uganda 1.1 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Nigeria 0.7 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]
Bangladesh 0.1 Dentsu Communication Institute Inc., Research Centre for Japan (2006)[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ Irreligion. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. (accessed: December 14, 2008).
  2. ^ http://www.gallup.com/poll/7759/americans-spiritual-searches-turn-inward.aspx
  3. ^ "Major Religions Ranked by Size". Adherents.com. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
  4. ^ http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
  5. ^ http://www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris/key_findings.htm
  6. ^ http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm
  7. ^ Based on the data of the Dentsu Communication Institute and the data of Zuckerman. Largest values taken.
  8. ^ The Religiosity Index is a measure of the importance of religion for respondents and their self-reported attendance of religious services. For religions in which attendance at services is limited, care must be used in interpreting the data. (Gallup WorldView)
  9. ^ 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 ak al Template:Ja icon http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/~honkawa/9460.html
  10. ^ https://worldview.gallup.com/default.aspx
  11. ^ "Albania". State.gov. 2006-09-15. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  12. ^ http://www.membres.lycos.fr/instantanesdalbanie/image/dossierdepresse.pdf
  13. ^ "Adherents.com". Adherents.com. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  14. ^ "Adherents.com". Adherents.com. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  15. ^ [1][dead link]
  16. ^ http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/zuckerman/atheism.html
  17. ^ [2][dead link]
  18. ^ [3][dead link]
  19. ^ "fowid - Forschungsgruppe Weltanschauungen in Deutschland: Home". Fowid.de. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  20. ^ "Insee". Insee.fr. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  21. ^ "Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 - page 11" (PDF). Retrieved 5 Mayıs 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  22. ^ "2914.0.55.002 - 2006 Census of Population and Housing: Media Releases and Fact Sheets, 2006". Abs.gov.au. 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  23. ^ [4][dead link]
  24. ^ http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=293
  25. ^ "96F0030XIE2001015 - Religions in Canada". 2.statcan.ca. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  26. ^ "Table Of Statistics On Religion In The Americas". Prolades.com. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  27. ^ [5][dead link]
  28. ^ [6][dead link]
  29. ^ "Microsoft Word - PDR 2006.doc" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-02-04.

External links