Philippines has most believers in God - survey

**ghosthunter** · April 18th, 2012 05:17 PM

Philippines has most believers in God - survey

WASHINGTON -- The Philippines leads the world in the number of people who believe in God, while the elderly across all countries tend to be the most religious, according to a US study out Wednesday.

Belief in God tends to be strongest in the United States and Catholic countries and lowest in Scandinavia and former Soviet states, according to the survey carried out by the NORC research group at the University of Chicago.

The study was based on data from 30 countries -- nearly all with Christian majorities -- in which surveys about belief in God have been taken since 1991.

It found that 94 percent of people in the Philippines said they had always believed in God, followed by Chile, with 88 percent, and the United States with 81 percent.

Belief was lowest in the former East Germany (13 percent) and in the Czech Republic (20 percent).

The surveys found atheism was most widespread in Scandinavia and the former Soviet Union -- with the exception of Poland -- and that belief in God was generally declining worldwide, but not in Russia, Slovenia or Israel.

The report found that senior citizens tend to believe more strongly in God. On average, 43 percent of respondents 68 and older are certain that God exists, compared to just 23 percent of those 27 and younger, the report said.

"Looking at differences among age groups, the largest increases in belief in God most often occur among those 58 years of age and older," said Tom Smith, who wrote the report, entitled "Belief About God Across Time and Countries."

"This suggests that belief in God is especially likely to increase among the oldest groups, perhaps in response to the increasing anticipation of mortality," Smith said.

In the United States, 54 percent of those younger than 28 said they were certain of God's existence, compared to 66 percent of those 68 and older, while in France eight percent of young people said they believed in God, compared to 26 percent of older citizens.

The surveys, taken in 1991, 1998 and 2008, were mainly carried out in European countries, in addition to Chile, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

source: Philippines has most believers in God - survey - InterAksyon.com

**ghosthunter** · April 18th, 2012 05:19 PM

So how does most number of religious people equate to one of the most corrupted countries on the planet? ... hmmm?

**shadow** · April 18th, 2012 05:37 PM

Pinoy pride! Expect this survey to be blown out proportion by local media..

**uls** · April 18th, 2012 05:52 PM

pinoys believe in God and go to church every Sunday but it doesnt translate to moral and ethical behavior

**vinj** · April 18th, 2012 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by uls

pinoys believe in God and go to church every Sunday but it doesnt translate to moral and ethical behavior

That's the sad part about it all; i would rather it be the other way around. It's not about listening to and preaching the word but how one would live it in his own way.

It's also the "bahala na" (bathala na) syndrome it seems, all prayers will be nothing without action. Marami kasi hindi nakinig sa Parable of the Talents sermon.

**Retz** · April 18th, 2012 06:10 PM

OT:

6% believe that Jesus is not God. Kidding aside.

**uls** · April 18th, 2012 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by vinj

That's the sad part about it all; i would rather it be the other way around. It's not about listening to and preaching the word but how one would live it in his own way.

It's also the "bahala na" (bathala na) syndrome it seems, all prayers will be nothing without action. Marami kasi hindi nakinig sa Parable of the Talents sermon.

parang mga Pharisees sa Bible who follow rituals and ceremonies coz it's tradition

pinoys are very good at following rituals and ceremonies but aren't really aware of the meaning

they just follow coz it's tradition

the meaning got lost long ago

**renzo_d10** · April 18th, 2012 06:37 PM

Originally Posted by shadow

Pinoy pride! Expect this survey to be blown out proportion by local media..

hahaha

parang yung kay jessica sanchez lang ah

**xninjax** · April 18th, 2012 07:01 PM

Filipinos go to church dahil maraming chix/boylets cla makikita dun :D j/k

**uls** · April 18th, 2012 07:13 PM

my view is pinoys too self/family-oriented to behave ethically

pinoys judge their actions by 1 rule: will it benefit me and my loved ones?

if yes, they'll act. even if the action can harm other people outside their social sphere

we may think religious belief will prevent people from unethical behavior but it doesnt

self interest tends to overwhelm religious belief