Pew has released a massive survey of global attitudes. There’s a lot of good stuff you can find if you dig deep into the massive 2 MB PDF that has all the results. Something I found interesting….
In response to the query “Do you have to believe in God to be moral?” Here are some select percentages for responses in the affirmative:
United States – 57
Canada – 30
Germany 39
Spain – 25
Italy – 24
Britain – 22
France – 17
Sweden – 10
Poland – 29
Turkey – 84
Lebanon – 66
Israel – 44
Bangladesh – 90
Pakistan – 88
Indian – 66
South Korean – 56
Japan – 33
China – 17
OK, so here are my thoughts. First, no surprise about the USA here. But, I would like to point to Turkey and Lebanon: Lebanon is much closer to the European nations than Turkey is (even though it’s pretty deviated as well). Even Poland, which is notionally a very pious nation has a much lower proportion than Turkey who believe that belief in God is necessary for being moral. I point this out because I really don’t know what kind of crack the people who think Turkey is culturally appropriate for the EU are on. Turkey is arguably more religious than the United States! Yes, the secular elite are good candidates for assimilation into Europe, but they are obviously a minority. There was a surprise from Lebanon though:
In Arab countries there is a strong consensus that faith is necessary, although in Lebanon there are substantial differences among the country’s three major religious communities – Shia Muslims (81% agree), Christians (65%), and Sunni Muslims (54%)….
So in Lebanon Sunni Muslims are less likely to emphasize the role of God in fostering morality than Christians!
In terms of the South Asian nations I think the difference between India and Pakistan and Bangladesh are instructive; Indians are predominantly Hindu and overwhelmingly believe in God, just as Bangladeshis and Pakistanis do. But it is also a self-consciously “secular” nation in may ways (though the nature of the secularity is very complicated). The first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was a religious skeptic, and atheists have been elected to local positions of leadership on the level of the states. Though the Indian populace are generally theists, in keeping with Hindu tolerance of heterodoxy on questions of God they seem far more tolerance of public deviation on this question from their elites. It seems plausible that there really aren’t any more atheists in India percentage wise than in Pakistan or Bangladesh, but the Islamic culture of the latter nations serves as a check on any public manifestation of dissent on the question of God.
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