Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Principia · 01-06-2003, 02:08 PM

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Of course, the chart you show says nothing about the populations of the world's other religious groups. Islam is supposedly a fast growing religion, while the Jews are losing numbers.

You have to check the link for the others. I recommend perusing the site, because personally I was amazed at just how well-endowed and well-oiled the Xian evangelist system is.

I think an interesting survey (though not commonly done, I believe) would reveal a decomposition of religious affiliations amongst individuals of societal influence (e.g. politicians, scientists, academics, businessmen, etc.). Is there a trend of secularization in those professions? I vaguely recall a poll done amongst American scientists a while back (anyone has a link?)

Carlos · 01-07-2003, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Principia
I think an interesting survey (though not commonly done, I believe) would reveal a decomposition of religious affiliations amongst individuals of societal influence (e.g. politicians, scientists, academics, businessmen, etc.). Is there a trend of secularization in those professions? I vaguely recall a poll done amongst American scientists a while back (anyone has a link?)

Nature published one such survey in 1998; maybe that's the one you're referring to. The full text is available online but requires a subscription. There is a bit of information on this at the American Atheists web site, though. An excerpt:

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The follow-up study reported in "Nature" reveals that the rate of belief is lower than eight decades ago. The latest survey involved 517 members of the National Academy of Sciences; half replied. When queried about belief in "personal god," only 7% responded in the affirmative, while 72.2% expressed "personal disbelief," and 20.8% expressed "doubt or agnosticism." Belief in the concept of human immortality, i.e. life after death declined from the 35.2% measured in 1914 to just 7.9%. 76.7% reject the "human immortality" tenet, compared with 25.4% in 1914, and 23.2% claimed "doubt or agnosticism" on the question, compared with 43.7% in Leuba's original measurement. Again, though, the highest rate of belief in a god was found among mathematicians (14.3%), while the lowest was found among those in the life sciences fields -- only 5.5%.

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