I. Thesis and Methodology
This project compared and contrasted the
relative religiosity of nations such as Canada and the nations of Northern and
Western Europe against each nation’s rankings in terms of education and
personal freedom as well as issues such as homosexuality [as gauged by acceptance
and legalization of same-sex marriage]. The thesis of the project is that the
least religious nations in the developed first world will be not only the best
educated and the freest but also the most accepting of things such as same-sex
marriage.
II. Religiosity
The first set of data for this project
were a pair of polling results from Gallup: a poll of 145 countries from
February 9, 2009[1]
by University of New York—Buffalo Professor of Psychology Brett Pelham [Ph.D., Social Psychology, University of
Texas—Austin] and another of 131 countries from August 31, 2010[2]
by Gallup Editor Steve Crabtree [Ph.D.,
George Mason University]. Both polls asked 1,000 individuals in each
country the question “Is religion an important part of you daily
life?”
In Pelham’s February 2009 poll, 78% of
1,000 adults polled in the Northern European Republic of Estonia identified religion
as “Unimportant”,
the third highest of the 145 countries polled. In Crabtree’s August 2010 poll,
the number of people in Estonia who identified religion as “Unimportant”
had increased to 84%, the highest of the 131 countries polled. In February
2009, the highest of the 145 nations polled was the 83% of those polled in the
Scandinavian Kingdom of Sweden who identified religion as “Unimportant”. However, by
August 2010, the number of people in Sweden who identified religion as “Unimportant”
had dropped a percentage point to 82%, dropping Sweden to the second highest
spot out of the 145 countries polled. In February 2009, the number two spot was
occupied by the 80.5% of people in the Nordic Kingdom of Denmark that
identified religion as “Unimportant”. By August 2010, that
number had decreased half a percentage, which was enough to drop Denmark to the
third position.
According to “Statistics Estonia” by the Estonia Ministry of Finance in
April 2013, only a quarter of the population of Estonia were affiliated with a
religion.[3]
According to an October 2010 report from Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner
for Research, Innovation and Science for the Directorate-General for Research
and Innovation for the European Commission of the European Union, only 18% of
the people of Estonia and Sweden said they “believe there is a god”[4].
In Denmark, that number was 28%.
In “The
Cambridge Companion to Atheism” by Boston University Professor of
Philosophy Michael Martin [Ph.D., Harvard
University], published by Cambridge University on October 30, 2006, Pitzer
College Professor of Sociology Philip Zuckerman [Ph.D., Sociology, University of Oregon] placed the rate of atheism
in Sweden at 85%.[5]
III. Tolerance
The second set of data for this project
was a ranking of 70 countries by their rate of approval for same-sex marriage,
based upon polls from a wide variety of sources.
According to an October 2015 study by
Vera Jourova, the Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality for
the Directorate–General for Justice and Consumers for the European Commission
of the European Union, 90% of the people of Sweden agree with the statement “Same Sex Marriage Should Be Allowed
Throughout Europe”[6]
[the second highest of 70 countries]. That’s up from 71% in Sweden in the same
study conducted in Autumn 2006, and 81% from Ipsos in May 2013.[7]
In a poll the year before in December 2012, published in January 2013, YouGov,
based in the United Kingdom of Great Britain, found that number was 79% in both
Sweden and Denmark.[8]
The 73% of the 1,000 people in the United
Kingdom of Great Britain in Pelham’s February 2009 Gallup poll that identified
religion as being “Unimportant” placed it 8th out of the 145 nations
polled.[9]
That number remained unchanged in Crabtree’s August 2010 Gallup poll, but
bumped the UK up to 6th out of 131 countries polled[10].
According to the European Science Foundation’s European Social Survey in 2008,
52.64% of those surveyed in the UK did not belong to a religion.[11]
That was up from 49.24% from the same survey in 2004. In the 2010 European
Commission study, only 33.7% of people in the UK said that the “believe
in a god”.[12]
By a 2011 YouGov poll, that number had dropped three percentage points to 34%.[13]
The 87% of people in Denmark that agreed with this statement in the 2015
European Commission study placed it in the third position.[14]
The Parliament of Sweden legalized same sex
marriage on April 1, 2009, the 7th nation in the world to do so,
with a law that came into effect a month later on May 1, 2009.[15]
IV. Education
According to the 2015 Prosperity Index
published by the London-based Legatum Institute, Denmark is ranked as the third
best nation out of 142 in terms of Education.[16]
According to the 2008 Human Development Index, published by the United Nations
Development Program, Denmark was tied for first with Finland, Australia and New
Zealand on its Education Index, calculated from mean years of schooling and
expected years of schooling.[17]
The Central Intelligence Agency’s World
Fact Book placed Literacy for both men and women in Denmark at 99% in
2003.[18]
In Professor Pelham’s February 2009
Gallup poll, the 70% of the 1,000 people polled in Finland who identified
religion as “Unimportant” placed it ninth out of the 145 nations polled.[19]
In the 2010 European Commission study,
only 33% of people in Finland said that they “believe there is a god”[20];
down from 41% in the same study in 2005. In Michael Martin’s “Cambridge Companion”, Zuckerman
places the rate of atheism in Finland at 60%.[21]
In addition to being tied for first with
Denmark, Australia and New Zealand on the UN Development Program’s Education
Index in 2008[22],
Finland is also ranked 7th out of 142 countries in terms of Education
on the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity index in 2015.
The number one position on Legatum’s
Education rankings belongs to Australia.[23]
Like in Denmark, the CIA World Fact
Book puts the literacy rate in Australia at 99%.[24]
The other nation that was tied for first with Australia in the 2008 UN
Education Index was New Zealand.[25]
The Legatum Institute ranked New Zealand 6th in terms of Education
on their 2015 Prosperity Index.[26]
In 2009, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Program
for International Student Assessment ranked New Zealand 7th in
reading and science.[27]
V. Personal Freedom
Along with Education, among the categories
that the Legatum Prosperity Index ranks its 142 countries on is Personal
Freedom. On this list; New Zealand takes second in the world.[28]
Canada’s Fraser Institute ranked New Zealand as the number one freest nation on
their Worldwide Index of Human Freedom in 2012.[29]
Canada itself beat out New Zealand for
the number one spot in terms of Personal Freedom on the Legatum Prosperity
Index in 2015. On the same Index, when it comes to education, Canada takes
second place to Australia out of the 142 countries.[30]
The CIA’s World Fact Book
places the literacy rate of Canada at 99%.[31]
Sweden’s own Scandinavian neighbor to the
North is the Kingdom of Norway. On Pelham’s February 2009 Gallup poll, the 78%
of the 1,000 people polled in Norway placed it at number four behind Estonia.[32]
In the 2010 European Commission Study, only 22% of people in Norway said that they
“believe
there is a god”.[33]
In Michael Martin’s “Cambridge
Companion” in 2006, Zuckerman places the rate of atheism in Norway at
72%.[34]
The 78% of people in Norway that were in
favor of same-sex marriage in an Ipsos poll in June 2013 placed it 7th
in the world.[35]
Earlier that same year, the January 2013 YouGov poll found that number at only
70%.[36]
Norway became the sixth nation in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, with
a law that came into effect on January 1, 2009.[37]
In terms of Education, the Legatum
Institute ranks Norway 5th in the world on its 2015 Prosperity
Index.[38]
The Central Intelligence Agency puts Norway’s Literacy Rate at a startling
100%.[39]
The Legatum Prosperity Index also ranks Norway 3rd out of its 142
countries in Personal Freedom behind New Zealand.
In between Denmark and Norway on
Legatum’s Index in terms of Education is the Netherlands.[40]
In 2008, the OECD ranked the Netherlands 9th best in the world in Education.[41]
VI. Legalization
The 2015 European Commission study found
91% of respondents in the Netherlands in favor of same-sex marriage[42],
the highest out of any country. This is up from 85% in a May 2013 study by the
French Institute of Public Opinion.[43]
Unsurprisingly, the Netherlands became the first-ever nation to officially
legalize same-sex marriage, with a law signed by Queen Beatrix Armgard on
December 21, 2000[44]
that went into effect on April 1, 2001.[45]
The Senate of Canada followed behind,
legalizing same-sex marriage on July 18, 2005, the fourth nation to do so.
In 4th place below Canada, New
Zealand and Norway on the Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index of Personal
Freedom is the tiny Grand Duchy of Luxembourg[46],
with an area of less than a thousand square miles.
The 75% of people in Luxembourg in the
2015 European Commission study in favor of same-sex marriage places it in 9th
place.[47]
To the South and West of Luxembourg is
France. The 69% of the 1,000 people in France who identified religion as being
“Unimportant” in Crabtree’s August 2010 Gallup poll
put it in 8th place out of the 131 nations polled.[48]
In the 2010 European Commission study, only 27% of people in France said that
they “believe in a god”.[49]
VII. Inverse Relationships
Because this project was examining any
relationship, positive or negative, between a nation’s religiosity and
education, freedom and tolerance, the next data set examined was the data from
the same two Gallup polls on the opposite end: the most religious nations.
The 98.5% of the 1,000 people in the Central
African Democratic Republic of the Congo in Professor Pelham’s February 2009
Gallup poll who identified religion as being “Very Important” places
that country as the 4th most-religious country out of the 145
countries polled.[50]
The Legatum Institute ranked the
Democratic Republic of the Congo 133rd out of 142 countries in terms
of Education on its Prosperity Index in 2015.[51]
The 98% of people polled in the Islamic
Republic of Mauritania in Northwest Africa who identified religion as being “Very
Important” in Pelham’s February 2009 Gallup poll placed the country as
the 10th most religious nation in the world.[52]
In Crabtree’s August 2010 Gallup poll, that number had remained unchanged, but
Mauritania had been bumped up one spot to 9th place.[53]
The Legatum Institute ranked Mauritania
134th out of 142 countries in terms of Personal Freedom on its
Prosperity Index in 2015.
Just above the Democratic Republic of the
Congo on the Legatum Institute’s rankings on Education at 134th out
of 142 countries is the Central Asian Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.[54]
In May 2006, the United States Library of Congress Federal Research Division
reported illiteracy rates in Afghanistan of 57% for men and 86% for women.[55]
Afghanistan also ranks 133rd
out of 142 countries on the 2015 Legatum Prosperity Index in terms of Personal
Freedom.[56]
VIII. Conclusions
In 72% of the nations studied for
this project, the nation’s ranking on Crabtree’s and Pelham’s February 2009 and
August 2010 Gallup polls of religiosity were inversely proportional to its
Education ranking on the 2015 Legatum Institute Prosperity Index.
In 88% of the nations studied for
this project, the nation’s rankings on Crabtree’s and Pelham’s Gallup polls on
religiosity were inversely proportional to its Personal Freedom ranking on the
Legatum Prosperity Index.
Denmark’s ranking of third least
religious in the 2010 Gallup poll[57],
for example, was directly proportional to not only its ranking of third on the
Legatum Institute’s 2015 Prosperity Index in Education[58]
but also its ranking of third most-accepting of same-sex marriage in the 2015
European Commission study.[59]
Norway’s ranking of fourth
least-religious country in Professor Pelham’s February 2009 Gallup poll[60]
corresponded to its ranking of 5th in Education and 3rd
in Personal Freedom on the 2015 Legatum Prosperity Index.[61]
Sweden’s ranking as the second least
religious nation in Crabtree’s August 2010 Gallup poll[62]
was directly proportional to its ranking as the second most-accepting nation of
same-sex marriage in the 2015 European Commission study.[63]
Luxembourg’s ranking as the tenth
least-religious country in Crabtree’s August 2010 Gallup poll[64]
corresponded to its ranking of ninth most-accepting of same-sex marriage in the
2015 European Commission study.[65]
Mauritania’s ranking of ninth
most-religious in Crabtree’s August 2010 Gallup poll[66]
corresponds to its ranking of eighth to last in Personal Freedom on the 2015
Legatum Institute Prosperity Index.[67]
In a couple of cases, the
relationships that were found were direct rather than inverse, but had nothing
to do with the nation’s ranking on religiosity.
As cited above, for example, the
Netherlands’ rank as the most-accepting nation of same-sex marriage in the 2015
European Commission study[68]
corresponds to it having been the first nation to legalize same-sex marriage in
2001.[69]
Sweden’s ranking of seventh in Personal Freedom on the 2015 Legatum Institute
Prosperity Index[70]
corresponded to it being the seventh nation to legalize same-sex marriage in
2009.[71]
Denmark’s ranking of third in
Education on the 2015 Legatum Prosperity Index[72]
corresponded to its ranking of third in acceptance of same-sex marriage in the
2015 European Commission study.[73]
Canada’s ranking of first in
Personal Freedom on the 2015 Legatum Institute Prosperity Index corresponded to
it ranking of second in Education.
Norway was found to be in the unique
position of being ranked third in Education on the Legatum Prosperity Index[74],
fourth least-religious in Professor Pelham’s February 2009 Gallup poll[75],
fifth in Education on the 2015 Legatum Prosperity Index[76],
being the sixth nation to legalize same-sex marriage in 2009[77]
and seventh most-accepting of same sex marriage in the 2013 Ipsos poll.[78]
In summary, the thesis of this
project was that the least-religious nations would be found to be the best
educated, freest and most accepting of same-sex marriage. The above data
indicates that the project’s thesis has been confirmed.
2,362
Words
[1] Crabtree, Steve and Pelham, Brett. “What Alabamians and Iranians Have in Common”.
Gallup. February 9, 2009
[3] Beltadze, Diana. “Over a Quarter of the Population Are Affiliated with a Particular
Religion”. Population and Housing Census. April 29, 2013
[4] Moedas, Carlos. “Special Eurobarometer: Biotechnology”. Directorate-General
for Research, Innovation and Science. October 2010
[5] Zuckerman, Philip. “Atheism: Contemporary Numbers and Practices”. In Martin, Michael. “The Cambridge Companion to Atheism”.
Cambridge University. October 30, 2006. Pages 47-50
[6] Jourova, Vera and Michou, Paraskevi. “Special Eurobarometer: Discrimination in
the EU in 2015”. Directorate-General for Justice, Consumers and Gender
Equality. October 2015
[10]
Crabtree, 2010
[11] European Research Infrastructure
Consortium. “ESS Cumulative Data Wizard”.
European Science Foundation. 2010
[12]
Moedas, 2010
[15] “Sweden Allows Same Sex Marriage: Sweden Will Allow Gay Couples to be
Legally Married from Next Month”. BBC
News. Thursday April 2, 2009
[20]
Moedas, 2010
[21]
Zuckerman, 2006
[23]
Hansen, 2015
[24] Central
Intelligence Agency, 2003
[25]
United Nations, 2008
[26]
Hansen, 2015
[27] “Program
for International Student Assessment”. Organization for Economic
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[28]
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[29] “New Zealand Ranked Number 1 in New
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U.S. and Denmark Tied for Seventh”. Fraser Institute. January 8, 2013
[30]
Hansen, 2015
[31] Central
Intelligence Agency, 2003
[33]
Moedas, 2010
[34] Zuckerman,
2006
[35]
Deeney, 2013
[36]
Macleod, 2013
[38]
Hansen, 2015
[39]
Central Intelligence Agency, 2003
[40]
Hansen, 2015
[43] “Rightward
shift of European Public Opinion”, Opinion and Business Strategies
Department, French Institute of Public Opinion. June 6, 2013
[46]
Hansen, 2015
[48]
Crabtree, 2010
[49]
Moedas, 2010
[51]
Hansen, 2015
[53]
Crabtree, 2010
[54]
Hansen, 2015
[55] Berry, Laverne. “Modern Education” (Handloff, Robert; Editor). Library of
Congress Federal Research Division. May 2006
[56]
Hansen, 2015
[57]
Crabtree, 2010
[58]
Hansen, 2015
[61]
Hansen, 2015
[62]
Crabtree, 2010
[64]
Crabtree, 2010
[66]
Crabtree, 2010
[67]
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[69] New York Times, 2000
[70]
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[71] BBC, 2009
[72]
Hansen, 2015
[74]
Hansen, 2015
[76]
Hansen, 2015
[77] Associated Press, 2008
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