Elonka wrote:
] ] Christianity: 2 billion
] ] Islam: 1.3 billion
] ] Hinduism: 900 million
] ] Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 850 million
] ] Buddhism: 360 million
] ] Chinese traditional religion: 225 million
] ] primal-indigenous: 150 million
] ] African Traditional & Diasporic: 95 million
] ] Sikhism: 23 million
] ] Juche: 19 million
] ] Spiritism: 14 million
] ] Judaism: 14 million
] ] Baha'i: 6 million
] ] Jainism: 4 million
] ] Shinto: 4 million
]
] When reading these statistics, the number I found most
] surprising was the relative tininess of the world's Jewish
] population (14 million) in comparison with other major world
] religions (1 billion-plus). For some reason I'd thought it
] was a larger religion, perhaps because I know so many people
] of that faith. It made more sense as I dug deeper though,
] since approximately half of the world's Jews (about 6 million)
] live in the U.S., half in Israel, and the next largest
] percentage is listed simply as "Europe".

This is not a number which is surprising at all. While the US jewish population is the highest oiutside Israel, that comes up for two reasons. 1) The history of anti-semitic pogroms throughout Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and 2) Hitler's Germany wiping out as much of it in Europe as possible, and the subsequent formation of Israel as a haven for the survivors. Millions of the remaining Jews from other countries (especially the USSR) swelled Israel's population while dropping the proportions in every other country.

]
] It puts some of the conflicts in the Middle East into a
] different perspective for me though. That the world's first
] two largest religions, Christianity and Islam, should seem to
] be so distracted -- even obsessed -- with a religion that is
] 1% of their size.
]

This is again not surprising. Although hardline adherants to either Islam or Christianity would be loathe to hear it, both religions have their roots in Judaism. Fundamentalists in both groups see Jews as unrepentant heretics, and their focus is not at all surprising. What IS surprising is that Jews don't see those other groups in the same sort of light, and don't spend all their time trying to figure out how to blow up mosques and churches with the same fervency that fundamentalist Muslims and Christians figure out ways to blow up synagogues.

]
] I also found interesting the listed quantity of non-religious
] people in the world, 850 million. Though it's worth keeping
] in mind that the number is probably somewhat skewed by the
] state-enforced atheism of China's 1+ billion inhabitants.
] With China included in the numbers, the world's population
] breaks down to about 80-85% religious, 15-20% atheist.
] Removing China from the mix though, a more... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

Mike the Usurper wrote:
] Elonka wrote:
] ] around the world seems to be 97% religious, 3%
] non-religious.
] ] Perhaps 90-10, depending how agnostics are categorized.
]
] I hate to say this, but this looks like you're skewing the
] numbers to conform to a preconceived view.

Heh, *you* accusing *me* of a preconceived view makes me giggle. ;)

Anyway, care for another source?

From the 2005 New York Times Almanac, page 486, section "Nonreligious and Atheists":

An estimated 887 million people (15 percent of the world's population) profess no religion, are agnostic or are indifferent to religion. Another 222 million people (4 percent) are declared atheists who do not believe in God. More than three-quarters (852 million) of these nonreligious and atheists live in China, where religious observance is sharply curtailed by the government. An estimated 12 percent of people in Europe are nonreligious, compared with 9.8 percent in Oceania, 7.2 percent in North America, and 3.3 percent in Latin America.

Elonka wrote:
] Mike the Usurper wrote:
] ] Elonka wrote:
] ] ] around the world seems to be 97% religious, 3%
] ] non-religious.
] ] ] Perhaps 90-10, depending how agnostics are categorized.
] ]
] ] I hate to say this, but this looks like you're skewing the
] ] numbers to conform to a preconceived view.
]
] Heh, *you* accusing *me* of a preconceived view makes me
] giggle. ;)
]
] Anyway, care for another source?
]
] From the 2005 New York Times Almanac, page 486, section
] "Nonreligious and Atheists":
]
] An estimated 887 million people (15 percent of the world's
] population) profess no religion, are agnostic or are
] indifferent to religion. Another 222 million people (4
] percent) are declared atheists who do not believe in God. More
] than three-quarters (852 million) of these nonreligious and
] atheists live in China, where religious observance is sharply
] curtailed by the government. An estimated 12 percent of people
] in Europe are nonreligious, compared with 9.8 percent in
] Oceania, 7.2 percent in North America, and 3.3 percent in
] Latin America.

So basically what that means is out of China's roughly 1.2 billion people, 80% don't have a declared religion, or rather do, but their declaration is state orthodoxy and probably be considered dubious. Removing China from the mix gives a rouch world population in the area of 4.25-4.5 billion, with approximately 250 million of those not having a preference or atheist. That gets us 1/17-1/18 or 5-6%.

That still leaves the question open however, what is the criteria? What qualifies them one way as opposed to another? There's an old saying, numbers lie. Stack on top of that what we know about polls, and now we have some serious questions.

What does "religious" mean?

Mike the Usurper wrote:
] What does "religious" mean?

Personally, I'm inclined to give it a broad definition. Like, "Someone who self-identifies as a member of a religion, or states that they believe in a god or gods, or who professes a deep sense of spirituality." As opposed to my definition of atheist, which is someone who says, "There's no god, and anyone who believes in god is either deluded, stupid, or was brainwashed at a young age." With agnostics covering a grey area in between those two.

How about you, what's your definition?