LSD
22nd April 2006, 04:55
A recent Canadian poll indicates that 68% of voters would elect an Atheist or Muslim Prime Minister. By contast, in the US, fully 52% of voters indicate that they would not elect an Atheist President, 14 percent more than the percentage who say they would not vote for a Muslim! :o
This highlights rather sharply the difference between the two countries' views on religion and, more specifically, on the role of religion in politics.
This data would seem to show that, as far the Canadian public is concerned, lack of religious "faith" is irrelevent; whereas Americans seem to find it objectionable.
I think, more than any census data or "self-identification" information, this shows just how powerful the Christian right is in the US as compared with the rest of the industrialized world.
That, even in the current climate of blatant antiarab hysteria, more Americans would vote for a Muslim than an Atheist shows just how important "faith" has become in the entire American socioeconomic system.
For those who deny that there is a real threat from conservative Christian groups or who claim that the US isn't "special" in its conservative movement, this clearly demonstrates how deluded such a position is.
There is simply no other country in the "west" today that values "faith" so highly. And considering that we're talking about the country with the most deadly standing army in the world, that's an incredibly scary fact! :o
Canadian poll (http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/11631)
American poll (http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=19114)
This highlights rather sharply the difference between the two countries' views on religion and, more specifically, on the role of religion in politics.
This data would seem to show that, as far the Canadian public is concerned, lack of religious "faith" is irrelevent; whereas Americans seem to find it objectionable.
I think, more than any census data or "self-identification" information, this shows just how powerful the Christian right is in the US as compared with the rest of the industrialized world.
That, even in the current climate of blatant antiarab hysteria, more Americans would vote for a Muslim than an Atheist shows just how important "faith" has become in the entire American socioeconomic system.
For those who deny that there is a real threat from conservative Christian groups or who claim that the US isn't "special" in its conservative movement, this clearly demonstrates how deluded such a position is.
There is simply no other country in the "west" today that values "faith" so highly. And considering that we're talking about the country with the most deadly standing army in the world, that's an incredibly scary fact! :o
Canadian poll (http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/11631)
American poll (http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=19114)