A non-believer - say it isn't so

"In most industrial societies, the level of religiosity declines as the society becomes wealthier and more sophisticated, according to John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which regularly surveys attitudes towards religion in the US.

Yet the US remains a highly religious place. Not the most religious place on the planet, but certainly more religious than Europe and Australia.

Green puts that down to America's historical roots. "Many people came to America precisely because they can practise their faith openly," he says. "Secondly, these extensive religious communities compete with each other for members. It means more effort goes into recruiting and maintaining members."

There is also a kind of counterintuitive argument about why religion has flourished, according to Green. Because of the separation of church and state, churches have had to build extensive private organisational structures to push their interests and so have become strong within the society."

The Sydney Morning Herald, August 11, 2007

Foreign Missionaries Find Fertile Ground in Europe

"For centuries, when Europe was the global center of Christianity, millions of European missionaries traveled to other continents to spread their faith by establishing schools and churches. Now, with European church attendance at all-time lows and a dearth of preachers in the pulpits, thousands of "reverse missionaries" are flocking back, migrating from poor countries to rich ones to preach the Gospel where it has fallen out of fashion."

Washington Post, June 11, 2007

It might be noted that they tend to attract immigrants who already are religious. And I reckon that most Europeans have become too skeptical for this.

On the bright side, notice that humanist groups are starting to spread in Africa. Some of the them request skeptical books, and I for one am going to send a few myself.

[Stats] More Hispanics in U.S. Abandon Religion

"A wave of research shows that increasing percentages of Hispanics are abandoning church, suggesting that along with assimilation comes a measure of secularization."

theledger.com April 15, 2007