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Lionel Mandrake

(4,212 posts)
15. It's difficult for many Icelanders to attend church.
Thu Jun 13, 2013, 04:14 PM
Jun 2013

Except in and near Reykjavik, the population of Iceland is thinly spread. Churches and congregations are tiny. A typical Lutheran church can't afford to hire a full-time pastor. That might explain part of the relatively low attendance.

For a truly secular country, consider the Czech Republic.

Religion in the Czech Republic was dominated by Christianity until at least the first half of the 20th century; since then it has steadily declined and today the Czech Republic has one of the least religious populations in the world. Religions other than Christianity make up a small minority, with the largest being Buddhism.

Historically, the Czech people have been characterised as "tolerant and even indifferent towards religion". According to the 2011 census, 34.2% of the population stated they had no religion, 10.3% was Roman Catholic, 0.8% was Protestant ... and 9.4% followed other forms of religion ... From 1991 to 2001 and further to 2011 the adherence to Roman Catholicism decreased from 39.0% to 26.8% and then to 10.3%; Protestantism similarly declined from 3.7% to 2.1% and then to 0.8%.

According to a Eurobarometer Poll in 2010, 16% of Czech citizens responded that "they believe there is a God" (the lowest rate among the countries of the European Union), whereas 44% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 37% said that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force".

Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_Czech_Republic

How indifferent are the Czechs to religion? When my wife and I were in Prague, we visited the grave of Tycho Brahe, which is inside the Tyn church. The church was practically surrounded by a maze of shitty little stores. We had a hell of a time finding our way to the front door of the church. There was a meandering path through the maze of shit, but there were no signs pointing to the path. I am not making this up.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

That is a shame. CaliforniaPeggy Jun 2013 #1
The population on the planet is getting Ilsa Jun 2013 #2
I agree that the population is getting too large. CaliforniaPeggy Jun 2013 #3
Yeah, that too, if the dominating group Ilsa Jun 2013 #4
They will have to deal with the other tenant of Evolution; Natural Selection. nt Xipe Totec Jun 2013 #5
Let's not kid ourselves here. longship Jun 2013 #6
By what criterion is the USA only marginally above Turkey? Lionel Mandrake Jun 2013 #7
Level of public support for evolution pokerfan Jun 2013 #8
Interesting. Lionel Mandrake Jun 2013 #10
It's also apparently quite secular pokerfan Jun 2013 #13
It's difficult for many Icelanders to attend church. Lionel Mandrake Jun 2013 #15
In the USA support evolution is consistently near the bottom. longship Jun 2013 #9
Thanks for the clarification. Lionel Mandrake Jun 2013 #12
Well, they may not with bills like in LA becoming law. longship Jun 2013 #14
I don't think that chart provides much support for saying goldent Jun 2013 #18
Really? Not so much as you think. longship Jun 2013 #19
Louisiana is only one state, Lionel Mandrake Jun 2013 #21
Indeed. longship Jun 2013 #22
We're graded on an average, not based strictly on the top scores. JoeyT Jun 2013 #11
Here's a bigger image... DreamGypsy Jun 2013 #16
Knowledge WovenGems Jun 2013 #17
It's difficult, but not impossible, for knowledge to disappear. Lionel Mandrake Jun 2013 #20
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