Friday, February 25, 2005
SURVEY: WHAT EUROPEANS
BELIEVE
Seven out of
Ten Believe in God – But What About Life After Death?
By Wolfgang Polzer
STUTTGART (ANS) -- Seven
out ten Europeans believe in God. That is one result of a
representative survey conducted on behalf of Reader’s Digest Germany.
8,600 persons in 14 European countries were interviewed November
through January. The results are published in the March issue of the
magazine.
Poland came out on top with 97 percent of the interviewees saying they
believe in God, followed by Portugal (90) and Russia (87). At the
bottom of the list are Belgium (58), the Netherlands (51) and the Czech
Republic (37).
The fact that someone believes in God does not necessarily mean that he
or she also believes in life after death. 53 percent of all Europeans
are convinced that physical death is not the end – 18 percent fewer
than those who believe in God.
For 43 percent of all Europeans religion is necessary to be able to
distinguish between right and wrong. This conviction is strongest in
Poland (86), Russia (78) and Switzerland (54), whereas relatively few
people subscribe to this view in the Czech Republic (27), the
Netherlands (25) and France (24).
79 percent of the Portuguese are convinced that religion is a positive
force in the world. 78 percent of the Poles and 72 percent of the
Spaniards agree. Belgians (39), Russians (36) and the Dutch (34) are
not so sure.
Even 15 years after re-unification Germany is still a deeply divided
country as far as religion is concerned. In the former Communist East
77 percent are convinced that God does not exist compared to 22 percent
in the West.
The belief in God does not necessarily mean that Germans regard him as
a personal being. For 83 percent of all believers God is present in
nature, 75 percent regard him as their creator and 70 percent describe
him as an ever-present source in their life.
Religious faith is widely appreciated as giving a sense of protection
(45) or meaning in life (39). Only one percent say that faith
intimidates them. Almost one in five regards natural disasters,
epidemics or other catastrophes as expressions of God’s displeasure.
65 percent of all believers resort to prayer to get in touch with God.
Two thirds of all prayers are concerned with “people who are important
to me”. Second on the list are peace and justice in the world. Only
relatively few prayers have to do with “my sins and my salvation” (13)
or “my work and my job” (11).
According to the survey churches are losing their influence. Faith is
regarded as a matter for the individual. 61 percent of all Germans say
that churches do not have any decisive say in matters of faith.
| Wolfgang Polzer (54), is senior
news editor of the Evangelical News Agency idea, Wetzlar (Germany),
which he joined in 1981. His previous work included four years in the
editorial department of the Salvation Army in Germany. In all, he has
spent 27 years in Christian media. Wolfgang can be contacted by e-mail
at: Wolfgang.Polzer@idea.de. |
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