Poland came out on top with 97 percent of the interviewees saying they
believe in God, followed by Portugal (90) and Russia (87). At the
bottom of the list are Belgium (58), the Netherlands (51) and the Czech
Republic (37).

10% of the American general public accepts the blindwatchmaking
position.
55% of American scientists accept the blindwatchmaking position.

45% of American scientists accept the seeingwatchmaking position.
85% of the American general public accepts the seeingwatchmaking
position.

In short,
10% of the American general public accepts the blindwatchmaking
position.
55% of American scientists accept the blindwatchmaking position.

45% of American scientists accept the seeingwatchmaking position.
85% of the American general public accepts the seeingwatchmaking
position.

I'm trying to make sense of [Polzer]"The belief in God does not
necessarily mean that Germans regard him as a personal being. For 83
percent of all believers God is present in nature, 75 percent regard

as their creator...."

The belief in God does not necessarily mean that Germans regard him

personal being. For 83 percent of all believers God is present in
nature, 75 percent regard him as their creator and 70 percent

him as an ever-present source in their life.
Religious faith is widely appreciated as giving a sense of

(45) or meaning in life (39). Only one percent say that faith
intimidates them. Almost one in five regards natural disasters,
epidemics or other catastrophes as expressions of God's displeasure.

65 percent of all believers resort to prayer to get in touch with

Religious faith is widely appreciated as giving a sense of

(45) or meaning in life (39).

I'm trying to make sense of [Polzer]"The belief in God does not
necessarily mean that Germans regard him as a personal being. For 83
percent of all believers God is present in nature, 75 percent regard him
as their creator...."

From
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s05020143.htm

Friday, February 25, 2005

SURVEY: WHAT EUROPEANS BELIEVE
Seven out of Ten Believe in God -- But What About Life After Death?

By Wolfgang Polzer
Special to ASSIST News Service

STUTTGART (ANS) -- Seven out ten Europeans believe in God. That is one
result of a representative survey conducted on behalf of Reader?s Digest
Germany. 8,600 persons in 14 European countries were interviewed
November through January. The results are published in the March issue
of the magazine.

Poland came out on top with 97 percent of the interviewees saying they
believe in God, followed by Portugal (90) and Russia (87). At the
bottom of the list are Belgium (58), the Netherlands (51) and the Czech
Republic (37).

The fact that someone believes in God does not necessarily mean that he
or she also believes in life after death. 53 percent of all Europeans
are convinced that physical death is not the end -- 18 percent fewer
than those who believe in God.

For 43 percent of all Europeans religion is necessary to be able to
distinguish between right and wrong. This conviction is strongest in
Poland (86), Russia (78) and Switzerland (54), whereas relatively few
people subscribe to this view in the Czech Republic (27), the
Netherlands (25) and France (24).

79 percent of the Portuguese are convinced that religion is a positive
force in the world. 78 percent of the Poles and 72 percent of the
Spaniards agree. Belgians (39), Russians (36) and the Dutch (34) are
not so sure.

Even 15 years after re-unification Germany is still a deeply divided
country as far as religion is concerned. In the former Communist East
77 percent are convinced that God does not exist compared to 22 percent
in the West.

The belief in God does not necessarily mean that Germans regard him as a
personal being. For 83 percent of all believers God is present in
nature, 75 percent regard him as their creator and 70 percent describe
him as an ever-present source in their life.
Religious faith is widely appreciated as giving a sense of protection
(45) or meaning in life (39). Only one percent say that faith
intimidates them. Almost one in five regards natural disasters,
epidemics or other catastrophes as expressions of God?s displeasure.

65 percent of all believers resort to prayer to get in touch with God.
Two thirds of all prayers are concerned with "people who are important
to me". Second on the list are peace and justice in the world. Only
relatively few prayers have to do with "my sins and my salvation" (13)
or "my work and my job" (11).

According to the survey churches are losing their influence. Faith is
regarded as a matter for the individual. 61 percent of all Germans say
that churches do not have any decisive say in matters of faith.

==================================================================.
Compare

Sagan, Carl. 1996. _The Demon-Haunted World: Science
as a Candle in the Dark_ (New York: Random House), 327.
Cited in Phillip E. Johnson, _Defeating Darwinism by
Opening Minds_ (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 131pp.,
47.
I meet many people who are offended by evolution, who
passionately prefer to be the personal handicraft of God
than to arise by blind physical and chemical forces over
aeons from slime. They also tend to be less than
assiduous in exposing themselves to the evidence.
Evidence has little to do with it. What they wish to be
true, they believe is true. Only nine percent of
Americans accept the central finding of modern biology
that human beings (and all the other species) have
slowly evolved by natural processes from a succession
of more ancient beings with no divine intervention
needed along the way.

Huba, Stephen. 22 Aug 1998. "Americans lead industrial
world in belief of creationism" _The Washington Times_, C5:
Citing Gallup and other public opinion polls since the early 1980s,
Mr. [George] Bishop said [in the Aug/Sept _Public Perspective_]
about 45 percent of Americans believe that God created man "pretty
much in his present form at one time within the last 10,000 years."
Another 40 percent believe that man developed over millions of
years from less advanced forms of life but that God guided this
process--what Mr. Bishop calls "theistic evolution." And 10
percent of Americans hold the Darwinist evolution position that man
developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life
but that God had no part in the process. .... Only 5 percent of
American natural and physical scientists believe in the biblical
creationist view, according to one survey. Fifty-five percent
endorse the Darwinist position, and 40 percent accept theistic
evolution.

In short,
10% of the American general public accepts the blindwatchmaking
position.
55% of American scientists accept the blindwatchmaking position.

45% of American scientists accept the seeingwatchmaking position.
85% of the American general public accepts the seeingwatchmaking
position.