95% of Irish people believe in god

markopantelic

i presume it refers to christian god since we don't have any real other religions in terms of numbers in the country.

how can this be so?

--amadeus--

Where does that figure come from? This for example has church attendance at 84% (and thats a figure coming directly from a catholic source so bound to overstate the case)

Max Power1

60% of statistics are made up

achtungbarry

Max Power1 wrote: »

60% of statistics are made up

53% of people know that.

Tyler MacDurden

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Where does that figure come from?

Original story was in the Indo on Wednesday:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/despite-scandals-we-still-believe-in-god-1767738.html

By John Cooney


Wednesday June 10 2009

WE may no longer be a church-going nation but just over 95pc of us still believe in God.

This is revealed in a survey, 'The Challenge of Indifference: A Need for Religious Revival in Ireland' by Jesuit sociologist Fr Micheal Mac Greil which will be launched this evening in Maynooth College by Cardinal Sean Brady.

The study will reveal how a national sample of 1,015 adults interviewed in 2007 and 2008 feel about religious attitudes, beliefs and practices.

It is the third national survey carried out by Fr Mac Greil over the past 35 years. His first survey in 1972-1973 provoked controversy when a number of commentators challenged its finding that in spite of growing secularisation 91pc of Irish Catholics were attending Mass at least once a week.

In 1989 the number fulfilling weekly Mass attendance dropped to 85pc, but in 1995, after the standing of the Irish Church was hit by the emergence of sexual scandals such as the revelation that Bishop Eamon Casey had fathered a son with American divorcee Annie Murphy, the figure dipped to just 64pc.

The publication of Fr Mac Greil's latest findings will be examined closely by the Catholic bishops for fresh evidence of how the clerical child abuse scandals have affected Mass attendance.

It is understood a major finding is that religious belief has survived at an exceptionally high level in spite of a substantial decline in practice among young people.

- John Cooney

In the spirit of public disclosure, I must admit that Fr Mac Greil is a relative of mine, albeit quite distant. (Both genealogically and spiritually )

Dades

As mentioned in another thread, the results of a survey by a Jesuit priest titled "The Challenge of Indifference: A Need for Religious Revival in Ireland", need to be taken with a bucket of salt.

There's no cause for alarm.

partyatmygaff

Wow, do you feel threatened or something?
Maybe you need to go preach your supposed "enlightenment" a bit more.

Seriously if your happy with being an athiest or whatever you don't need to force everyone else

Flamed Diving

That means that 9 out of 10 people I know believe in God.

Funny, considering that most people I know don't believe in any kind of god.

Zombrex

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Wow, do you feel threatened or something?

Well yes, given the ridiculous harm religion and religious faith has done across the world and specifically in Ireland I think a lot of people are hoping for the day when that statistic says a big fat zero.

--amadeus--

Beaten to teh punch by Dades...

Anything in the Indo I take with a portion of salt anyway but this survey is a bit like all teh tobacco sponsored "research" in teh 50's and 60s that said smoking was harmless. Hardly independent now was it?

Zombrex

Flamed Diving wrote: »

That means that 9 out of 10 people I know believe in God.

Funny, considering that most people I know don't believe in any kind of god.

Most people I know would say they believe in "God" but when the discuss becomes more detailed the "God" they believe in tends to end up being a rather wishy washy version of God and heaven, far removed from say the Christian God.

I think people like the idea of God, and I think a lot of people simply don't think about it too much.

Handsome Bob

Surveys are futile if you don't take a good cross sectional sample in terms of geography and age. No offence to the researchers, but it just looks like their sample came from standing outside a few churches, with the occasional passer by being an atheist.:pac:

--amadeus--

You can muddy the waters pretty effectively if you have an agenda by framing the questions correctly:

- Do you believe in a "benign higher power" (the entity commonly called God)?

- Do you believe in the interventionist God who continually monitors our behaviour and will punish our sins on Judgement Day?

Both questions technically are looking for the same thing (belief in god) but you could ask the exact same people those 2 questions and get radically different results. Even more so if you give a 1 - 5 rating on the first; with 2 being "somewhat believe" I guarantee that most people - even maybe 95% of people - would probably hedge thier bets and avoid an outright 1 in that case. That way you don't have to faff about manipulating samples and can claim that your survey is 100% representative.

Lies, damned lies, etc.

Overblood

95% of Irish people let their mammy fill in the census.

Húrin

markopantelic wrote: »

i presume it refers to christian god since we don't have any real other religions in terms of numbers in the country.

how can this be so?

Why assume it to refer to the Christian God? In my experience the God most people believe in is not one prescribed by any of the official religions, but perhaps what one might describe as a post-Christian God. Which is to be expected. If the pollster simply asked if someone believes in God, there is no need to assume it must be Christian. Believing in God and being a Christian are two very different things.

Wicknight wrote: »

Well yes, given the ridiculous harm religion and religious faith has done across the world and specifically in Ireland I think a lot of people are hoping for the day when that statistic says a big fat zero.

I am cynical enough about human nature to argue that a homogenously atheist society would be just as likely to harm its own people as a homogenously theistic one. Diversity seems to be a safer bet.

Dumb

Did you know that 87% of all statistics are made up?

achtungbarry

Dumb wrote: »

Did you know that 87% of all statistics are made up?

It's been done already.

Max Power1 wrote: »

60% of statistics are made up

Go stand in the corner. :pac:

Galvasean

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Anything in the Indo I take with a portion of salt anyway but this survey is a bit like all teh tobacco sponsored "research" in teh 50's and 60s that said smoking was harmless. Hardly independent now was it?

Actually, a lot of that research suggested that cigarettes were good for you! :pac:

Dumb wrote: »

Did you know that 87% of all statistics are made up?

Max Power1 wrote: »

60% of statistics are made up

Well, according to some very reliable statistics I have been given, I can conclude that at least one of you is lying.

Crucifix

Checking the most census data that looks about right. Agnostic, atheist and no religion has about 5%

Flamed Diving

Indeed.

http://www.cso.ie/census/census2006results/volume_5/vol_5_2006_complete.pdf

I still find it hard to believe though. Maybe if you restricted the age range to people in their 20s you would get something closer to what I expect.

Dades

Crucifix wrote: »

Checking the most census data that looks about right. Agnostic, atheist and no religion has about 5%

See any religious survey on Boards in, say, After Hours, and then ask how many of those voters filled in their own details on the census form.

studiorat

Galvasean wrote: »

Actually, a lot of that research suggested that cigarettes were good for you! :pac:

Cigarette smokers are 50% less likely to get Parkinsons Disease or Altsheimers Disease BTW.

yawnstretch

I believe in God.

Calibos

studiorat wrote: »

Cigarette smokers are 50% less likely to get Parkinsons Disease or Altsheimers Disease BTW.

And Mouth Ulcers. Don't forget the mouth ulcers. Plagued with mouth ulcers everytime I bit my lip up to the age of 21. Not had one in the last 14 years. Started smoking at 21. Why I started smoking at an age where I should have had more sense.....thats a whole nother kettle of fish

Zombrex

yawnstretch wrote: »

I believe in God.

It is ok, he doesn't believe in you

stevejazzx

Húrin wrote: »

I am cynical enough about human nature to argue that a homogenously atheist society would be just as likely to harm its own people as a homogenously theistic one. Diversity seems to be a safer bet.

I really hate this argument. It is such a poor argument. Even if you were right what's the point in giving them religion in the first place as a means of rationalising their madness. People may have to actually think about stuff instead filling in the automatic answers that religion offers. And if henious crimes are committed there is no place to hide. It is stomach churning to know that there are people out there who think that the death of millions would be ok if it advanced the prospect of their religion gaining a dominant place in the world. I think diversity is a great idea but only groups who do not believe in completely unsubstaniated myths should be acknowledged. Becasue we might harm ourselves anyway is not in anyway a reason for ignoring the systems of power that currently preside. It's like saying that one should leave a child alone with a knife becasue even if the knife was removed it is possible the child might find a blade. It's the law of averages, remove all possible barriers to advancement and the chances of advancement increase.

fatmammycat

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Wow, do you feel threatened or something?
Maybe you need to go preach your supposed "enlightenment" a bit more.

Seriously if your happy with being an athiest or whatever you don't need to force everyone else

Hmm, last time I checked atheists weren't calling to doors or saying you have to be an atheist to enroll your kid in a school. Force? What are you talking about?

Mark Hamill

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Wow, do you feel threatened or something?
Maybe you need to go preach your supposed "enlightenment" a bit more.

Seriously if your happy with being an athiest or whatever you don't need to force everyone else

Wouldn't you feel threatened if a survey came out that said 95% of people believed in Santa Claus?

Galvasean

Mark Hamill wrote: »

Wouldn't you feel threatened if a survey came out that said 95% of people believed in Santa Claus?

Not if the survey was done in a pre-school.

grames_bond

yawnstretch wrote: »

I believe in God.

Kyle Gass?

Dades

grames_bond wrote: »

Kyle Gass?

Ha - that was the first thing that into my mind too. Very funny album.