Free Republic

How do you feel about religion?As Statista's Katharina Buchholz details below, depending on which country you are in, this question is more or less likely to be met with a shrug or even an objection to religious belief.In China, the highest percentage of people among the 56 countries and territories included in the Statista Global Consumer Survey is non-religious or atheist, the latter describing people rejecting the idea that there is a God.You will find more infographics at StatistaAmong European countries, Germany ranks high for the share of its non-religious and atheist population, which stands at around a third of...

It’s no secret that the Democratic Party is on the wrong side of almost every issue as it relates to a Biblical worldview, but did you know that the DNC just passed an official resolution making it the first party to affiliate with the irreligious? Democrats haven’t been this boldly anti-religion since they literally booed God at the 2012 Convention. According to the Friendly Atheist, the DNC passed the resolution over the weekend which heralds the “value, ethical soundness and importance” of non-religious Americans.

The so-called "God Gap" between Republicans and Democrats continues to play an important role in partisan differences, according to a new Gallup poll.Among very religious Americans, about half, 49 percent, identify as Republican or are likely to vote Republican. Among nonreligious Americans, also about half, 52 percent, identify as Democrats or are likely to vote for Democrats. This God gap, sometimes called the "religious participation gap," has characterized party politics in the United States for at least the seven years that Gallup has been measuring it, Frank Newport, editor in chief for Gallup, pointed out in a blog post.Religiosity was...

Frank Newport, author of the recently published book, “God is Alive and Well,” made a timely appearance this past week at a forum hosted by Concordia University in Southern California. It followed the much-hyped release of a new survey by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and Duke University that stated, “Americans and religion increasingly parting ways.” Deliberately misinterpreting data culled from the General Social Survey, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, the researchers claimed that the percentage of Americans “preferring no religion” had risen to 20 percent in 2012, down 12 percentage points from 1990. “We...

The percentage of people who claim no religion has nearly doubled since 1990. Meanwhile, the percentage of Christians is on the decline, according to a new study on American religious life. The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), released on Monday, shows that the percentage of Americans claiming no religion, which jumped from 8.2 percent in 1990 to 14.2 in 2001, has now increased to 15 percent. The findings were based on over 54,000 interviews conducted between February and November of last year. The 2008 survey was a continuation of ARIS surveys in 1990 and 2001, which are part of...

During his interview, to assess his qualifications, the priest was given three hypothetical counseling scenarios by a Catholic Charities supervisor and asked how he would respond. The first involved a pregnant woman who’s decided to have an abortion and who comes in for counseling for depression. When asked if he would treat her for depression "without interfering with her decision to abort," the priest said he would not, but would consider her depression linked to her decision to abort and counsel against abortion. The priest was then "disqualified from counseling in abortion-related cases." The second scenario involved two men who...

Sister Donna Quinn, a Palos Hills resident, attended the last two and is flying to this one with four other nuns. Rev. Nan Conser, a retired United Church of Christ minister in Golf, never went before but is going with a group of 10 clergy and lay people. Rev. Larry Greenfield, an American Baptist minister who leads Hyde Park Union Church, couldn't make it last time, but said he wouldn't miss this one for anything.