Greece has the largest share of residents who tie belief in God to morality in Europe. In particular, they rank first in the belief that belief in God is synonymous with morality and first in the Western world, even above the devout USA, in the importance of religion in their lives.
The aforementioned data are reflected in a global survey conducted by the American Pew Research Center in 34 countries from May 13 to October 2, 2019, with the participation of 38,426 citizens. Due to the data processing and the special conditions due to the pandemic, the announcement of the results was postponed, which finally took place last Monday.
Of the 13 EU countries in which the survey was conducted, Greece is in the first place for saying that belief in God is a prerequisite for being moral (53%). In second place is Bulgaria with 50%, and in third place is Slovakia with 45%. As an indication, 26% of Canadians and 44% of Americans tie belief in God to morality. At the other end of the scale are France (15%), the Czech Republic (14%) and Sweden (9%). However, we are far from Indonesia and the Philippines where 96% answer that faith in God is synonymous with morality.
In the first place, most people in Greece say that religion is important in their lives. Greece ranks first in Europe and first in the western world as 80% say religion is “important” and “very important” and only 20% say that it is “little” or “not at all important”. In the US, the respective percentages are 70% and 30%.
Sweden with 78% says religion is of little or no importance in their lives, followed by the Czech Republic (72%), France (66%), the Netherlands (60%), and the United Kingdom (60%). However, Greece ranks first in devoutness in the western world, but not in the whole world. Indonesia (100%), the Philippines (98%) and Turkey (89%) are ahead of us.
When asked about prayer, 73% of Greek respondents answer that it plays an important role in their lives. When asked about God, the percentage of those who answered the same rose to 82%. These percentages rank Greece second in the world among developed economies.
Source: kathimerini.gr
