An international survey has found opinions split on whether religion does more good than harm in the world, but three quarters of respondents say they are “completely comfortable being around people” of different faiths, writes Tom Heneghan.
“People across 23 countries are divided on religion’s impact on the world, but most say they are tolerant of people with different beliefs to them,” the Paris-based pollster Ipsos said. The survey found 51 per cent of respondents rated faith’s impact positively and 49 per cent negatively – a result that fell within the survey’s margin of error, concluding in a draw.
Belgium topped the list of negative views with 68 per cent of respondents seeing religion doing more harm than good, followed by Germany, Spain and Australia at 63 per cent, Sweden and Britain at 62 per cent and France at 61 per cent.
At the other end of the spectrum, only 26 per cent in Japan saw religion in a negative light overall, followed by Russia, South Korea, Brazil, Peru, South Africa and the United States between 36 per cent and 39 per cent.
On average, 74 per cent of respondents said they were at ease with people of different religions. South Africa, the United States, Canada, Britain, India and Turkey led this table with scores between 85 per cent to 90 per cent.
Asked if they lost respect for people when they found they were not religious, 46 per cent of respondents in India agreed, followed by 24 per cent in Turkey and 21 per cent in South Africa. Only 10 per cent in Britain reported less respect for agnostics and atheists, which put it on the same level as Canada, Japan and Russia. Some 19 per cent in the United States agreed.
The survey was based on 17,401 interviews conducted last summer.
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