Thread: Religiosity: The US vs Canada.

There was a debate in Toronto just this past weekend between former UK prime minister Tony Blair and author Christopher Hitchens. The debate topic was "Is religion a force for good?" If you've seen one of these debates you've seen them all.

Anyway, there was an interesting poll accompanying the debate, which asked people from a variety of different countries if they thought that religion was a force for good. What I found most interesting was the difference between Canada and the US. I've always thought of American and Canadian culture to be not all that different. We're fundamentally the same type of melting pot immigrant destinations. We have very similar laws. Our economies are inextricably intertwined. But some how Canadians don't seem to be nearly as religious. I'd like to hear thoughts from our US and Canadian members.



Is religion a force for good?

*Mad props to the Swedes.

Source: CBC News - Canada - Poll underlines sharp divide on religion

There is one thing that you're mistaken in with similarities between USA vs Canada. Canadian citizens through immigration do not fall into a melting pot like the states. It is known that people from other countries that immigrate to Canada retain their cultures and in turn their religions strongly. I believe this clash in beliefs actually acts contrary to that belief in which there is natural tendency to believe that one's own religion is right and superior therefore if the statement is true then they would think why does this person with other beliefs are so "bad", on the other hand americans blending into an American culture has that idea of religion on good being hand in hand is more apparent. I dunno this is more or less a think tank blurb just trying to entice discussion...

I read about the debate, apparently it wasn't as great as everyone was expecting. Peter is right when he stated that Canada is not a melting pot. However, Canada does take in a lot of refugee's who are fleeing persecution in their own countries. In a lot of cases the persecution is due to religious reasons, so thats why I think a lot of people don't think of religion as good here. In regards to America, I cannot say for sure why they like religion so much, but religion is everywhere there. It's on their money, politicians openly speak about god and aren't elected if they don't. However, it would be interesting to hear what american members think about why religion is liked so much in their country.

Religion itself is a force for good. Teaches people about morality, ethics and a lot more. I'm from the USA myself and am glad more than half agree it's a force for good. There are many, many different kinds of religions in the USA and I respect each one for what they are and teach. If bad things are done in the name of religion, it's not the religion itself telling it's followers to do it, it's the people themselves twisting and feeding the people false and inacurrate information. I believe people themselves are the cause for all bad things and good.

I don't agree with the common notion among Canadians that we are not a melting pot like the US. There's no evidence I've seen to support the idea that different peoples immigrating to Canada are able to preserve their cultures in any way that's distinctly different than what happens in the US. In fact, as the son of an immigrant growing up in a very working class immigrant neighborhood, what I've seen is rampant assimilation. Brown, white, or yellow, it doesn't seem to matter. I really think that Canadians are a lot more like Americans than they like to admit.

As far as the refugees argument goes I don't think Canada takes in nearly enough refugees to affect that kind of statistical difference. Certainly, I can see the majority of refugees having that opinion, but they would be statistically insignificant.

JB, I do agree with you about there being this kind of culture of religiosity in the US. I'm perplexed as to why that would be so different than Canada. I think if you were to drop into a major Canadian city or a major US city, you really wouldn't be able to see much difference. Where I do think Canada and the US differs is in that the US has a wider separation between the very wealthy and the very poor. Ghettos are not uncommon in the US. Food for thought.

You would see a major difference if you dropped yourself say in Toronto vs Detroit. As for the # is refugees Canada takes ill look into it.

Originally Posted by jb123

You would see a major difference if you dropped yourself say in Toronto vs Detroit. As for the # is refugees Canada takes ill look into it.

why the hell would he go to detroit? come on now that was a bad example lol. that is a dead town with one minority making up 95% of it.