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加拿大人对上帝的信仰与他们对宗教的依恋“脱钩”
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadians-faith-in-god-religion-poll
一项新的民意调查提出了关于宗教本质的深刻问题，以及个人或群体是否最好理解宗教
约瑟夫·布里恩 2023 年 4 月 6 日 367 条评论
从最严格的亚伯拉罕一神教到更神秘和多神教的信仰，加拿大人的信仰和宗教依恋的“脱钩”随处可见。
加拿大一个奇怪的人口趋势是，尽管去教堂和其他正式宗教仪式的人数急剧下降，但精神或宗教信仰仍然存在。
一项新的民意调查从另一个角度揭示了相关的动态，研究员杰克·杰德瓦布（Jack Jedwab）称之为对上帝的信仰与对宗教的依恋感“脱钩”。 你可以失去一个，但保留另一个，很多加拿大人都在这样做。
莱格为加拿大研究协会进行的一项新民意调查显示，大约一半的加拿大人相信上帝，这一指标在过去几年中大致保持稳定。
民意调查显示，加拿大人相信上帝并且感觉与自己的宗教无关，这是很常见的。 但更常见的是，加拿大人对上帝的存在表示深深的怀疑，甚至达到了坚定的无神论的程度，同时又对自己的宗教有着密切的依恋。
“对于某些人来说，你可以质疑自己对上帝的信仰，而不质疑自己的宗教信仰，”蒙特利尔加拿大研究协会主席杰德瓦布说。
看起来很矛盾。 杰德瓦布表示，这引发了人们对宗教本质以及宗教是否最好由个人或群体来理解的深刻问题。
从最严格的亚伯拉罕一神教到更神秘和多神教的信仰，这种“脱钩”随处可见。 这项于二月和三月进行的民意调查的受访者包括印度教徒、锡克教徒、佛教徒、犹太人、穆斯林以及天主教徒和新教徒。
但杰德瓦布描述了土生土长的加拿大人的宗教态度中的“软弱”，这与移民的观点形成鲜明对比。
无论宗教信仰如何，移民比非移民更有可能“强烈同意”有一位上帝（27.7% 比 49.3%）。 与五分之一的非移民相比，只有十分之一的移民强烈反对上帝的存在。
杰德瓦布认为，这在一定程度上反映了“来自对上帝信仰高度坚定的地方”的移民。
近三分之二的天主教移民强烈认为有一位上帝，而只有三分之一的非移民天主教徒则只有这一比例。 新教的数字也显示出类似的差距。 这与穆斯林形成鲜明对比，穆斯林不存在这种差距，而且几乎普遍一致认为有一位上帝。
锡克教徒对他们的宗教团体表现出最高的依恋感，76.9%的人表示他们非常依恋，只有7.7%的人说“有点”，15.4%的人“不是很依恋”。 犹太人也表现出类似但不太明显的模式。
与天主教徒相比，大多数天主教徒要么根本不依恋，要么不太依恋。 只有 17.8% 的人表示他们对自己的宗教感到“非常依恋”。
杰德瓦布说，在某些情况下，宗教成为认同某种文化的“委婉说法”——使用文化标识符而不是宗教取向，这在世俗犹太人中很常见，尤其是在魁北克。
“我们越来越多地从多个角度看待自己，”杰德瓦布说。杰德瓦布指出，令人好奇的是，40.9% 的犹太人表示他们非常依恋自己的宗教团体，但只有 26.1% 的人强烈同意有一位上帝。 锡克教徒的分歧更大：76.9％的人“非常依恋”，只有46.2％的人“强烈同意”有一位上帝。
在所有其他宗教中，强烈的信仰民意调查高于强烈的依恋。
在加拿大各地，不列颠哥伦比亚省和魁北克省脱颖而出，这些地方对上帝存在的强烈认同实际上弱于对冲或不确定的信仰。 在其他地方，“有些同意”的数字低于“强烈同意”的数字。
在全国范围内，32.8%的加拿大人强烈同意有一位上帝，而18.5%的人“有些同意”，差距接近15个百分点。 在艾伯塔省，这一比例要高得多，超过 25 个百分点（39.3% 强烈同意，18.5% 部分同意）。 在大草原地区，分歧超过 35 分，只有十分之一的人表示他们“某种程度上同意”上帝的存在。
Jedwab 建议 B.C. 和魁北克之所以脱颖而出，是因为这两个地方“政治话语更多地针对世俗主义和对有组织宗教的关注”。
他还指出了农村和城市的鸿沟，以及农村地区在历史上如何与最强大的信仰实践联系在一起。 这种情况也发生了变化，特别是在魁北克省，天主教的衰落伴随着人们更加虔诚和依恋其宗教的城市移民。
从年龄分布来看，“强烈同意上帝存在”的人数在 18-24 岁年龄组中一开始就很高，为 36.3%，但在 25-34 岁年龄组中这一比例下降到 22.4%，然后又回升 进入30年代。 在75岁以上，“非常同意”的比例最高，达到39.1%，比“有些同意”高出20多个百分点。
大约五分之一的人要么不知道，要么宁愿保留自己的观点而不回答。
由于这项民意调查的进行方式——通过在 2 月底和 3 月初对 Leger 民意研究项目的 1,843 名成员进行在线调查，结果根据年龄、性别和地区通过人口普查数据进行加权——无法计算出真正的误差幅度。 但对类似数量的受访者进行的随机民意调查将被认为准确度在 2.5% 以内，即 20 次中的 19 次。
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Canadians' faith in God is 'decoupling' from their attachment to religion
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadians-faith-in-god-religion-poll
A new poll raises deep questions about the nature of religion and whether it is best understood personally or communally
A curious demographic trend in Canada is that spiritual or religious belief has persisted despite the famously steep decline in church attendance and other formal religious observances.
A new poll reveals a related dynamic from another perspective, what the researcher Jack Jedwab calls a “decoupling” of belief in God from the sense of attachment to one’s religion. You can lose one, but keep the other, and plenty of Canadians are doing it.
A new poll by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies shows about half of Canadians believe in God, a measure that has been roughly stable for the last few years.
It is common for Canadians to believe in God and feel unattached to their religion, the poll shows. But it is even more common for Canadians to report deep skepticism about God’s existence, even to the point of firm atheism, while also feeling closely attached to their religion.
“For some people, you can question your belief in God without questioning your religion,” said Jedwab, president of the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies.
It seems contradictory. Jedwab says it raises deep questions about the nature of religion and whether it is best understood personally or communally.
This “decoupling” shows up everywhere from the strictest Abrahamic monotheisms to more mystical and polytheistic faiths. Respondents to the poll, conducted in February and March, included Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims and Christians both Catholic and Protestant.
But Jedwab describes a “softness” in the native-born Canadian religious attitudes that contrasts with the immigrant outlook.
Regardless of religion, immigrants are far more likely than non-immigrants to “strongly agree” there is a God (27.7 per cent compared to 49.3 per cent). Just one in ten immigrants strongly disagrees there is a God, compared to one in five non-immigrants.
Jedwab suggests this partly reflects immigration “from places with a high degree of conviction in terms of belief in God.”
Nearly two-thirds of Catholic immigrants strongly agree there is a God compared to barely one third of non-immigrant Catholics. The Protestant numbers show a similar gap. That is in contrast to Muslims, for whom there is no such gap, and near universal strong agreement that there is a God.
Sikhs show highest sense of attachment to their religious group, with 76.9 per cent saying they are very attached, and just 7.7 per cent saying “somewhat,” and 15.4 per cent “not very.” Jews show a similar but less pronounced pattern.
Compare that to Catholics, of whom a majority are either not attached at all, or not very. Just 17.8 per cent said they felt “very attached” to their religion.
In some cases, religion becomes a “euphemism” for identifying with a culture, Jedwab said — used a cultural identifier rather than a religious orientation, as is common with secular Jews, particularly in Quebec.
Jedwab points out the curiosity that 40.9 per cent of Jews say they are very attached to their religious group, but only 26.1 per cent strongly agree there is a God. Sikhs have an even wider split: 76.9 per cent are “very attached,” and just 46.2 per cent “strongly agree” there is a God.
In all other religions, strong belief polls higher than strong attachment.
Across Canada, British Columbia and Quebec stand out as places where strong agreement in the existence of God is actually weaker than hedged or uncertain belief. Everywhere else, the “somewhat agree” numbers are lower than “strongly agree.”
Nationally, 32.8 per cent of Canadians strongly agree there is a God, compared to 18.5 per cent who “somewhat agree,” a split of nearly 15 points. In Alberta, that split is much higher at more than 25 points (39.3 per cent strongly agree, and 18.5 per cent somewhat agree). In the Prairies, the split is more than 35 points, with barely one person in ten saying they “somewhat agree” that God exists.
He also notes the rural and urban divide, and how rural regions were historically associated with the most robust faith practices. That has changed too, particularly in Quebec, where declining Catholicism is paired with urban immigration of people more devoted and attached to their religion.
Looking at the age progression, the “strongly agree that God exists” numbers start out strong among the 18-24 age cohort with 36.3 per cent, but they dip to 22.4 per cent among people in the 25-34 age group, then climb back into the 30s. At age 75 plus, the “strongly agrees” are at their highest proportion at 39.1 per cent, more than 20 points higher than “somewhat agree.”
Roughly one person in five either does not know or prefers to keep their view to themselves and not answer.
Because of how this poll was conducted — via online survey of 1,843 members of Leger’s public opinion research program in late February and early March, with results weighted by census data according to age, gender and region — a true margin of error cannot be calculated. But a randomized poll with a similar number of respondents would be considered accurate to within 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
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