The Least Religious Countries in the World

[@K_Forss]

As a Swede and a baptised non practicing member and self identified agnostic that haven't attended any service in 10+ years: my main reasons for staying in the church are: the right to be buried in the same cemetery as the rest of my family; the option of getting married in a church; and most importantly the economic support (tax) for the preservation and maintenance of important historical religious sites, churches and an extra socioeconomical support for those in need

[@evelyngil4822]

Those are good reasons for staying in the church. As for me I'm the complete opposite , I have joined ever religion in the world although I basically practice at home. I noticed that ever religion is a piece of a puzzle, mystical experience us the purpose of religion or paths

[@nosuchthing8]

Wow, you mastery of English is profound

[@kallehammarsten45]

As also a Swede I have the same reasons for not leaving the church.

[@reintaler6355]

@@nosuchthing8 Many Swedes and Dutch sound more native than your average Geordie or Scouser

[@mediocreman6323]

Interesting, as an Austrian and a baptized former member of the Catholic Church, I have left it as soon as I could (in fact, only one or two days after my 18ᵗʰ birthday, because I do not care about burial or family, I consider marriage to be a rather obsolete construct (also, in Austria, there is less and less legal distinction between couples which are married and those who are not, if there is any at all), and, as much as I value some priests, the Catholic Church as a whole is an institution that does not deserve my financial support in any way, and I would _love_ to see the turning of Christianity into an actual spiritual organisation, and not one that is primarily about power. I would, however, support caritative organisations, but here, it does not matter if they are religiously motivated or not.

[@MrGrindstaff1654]

I’ve been watching Religion For Breakfast for around 3-4 years now and it’s always been one of my favorite channels to watch. It’s one of the few places on KZbin that has been a place to share non-biased information on religious topics in an interesting and fun way. I would say the biggest impact of this channel on me has been to show me how to discuss religious beliefs in a more accurate and unbiased manner. It’s always a happy surprise when I see a new video pop up. I will become a Patreon supporter this month to support one of my favorite youtubers on the site. Thanks for all the work you put into these videos!

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

This is such an encouraging message. Thank you so much!

[@MrGrindstaff1654]

ReligionForBreakfast No problem, like I said I love your videos. If we had more people like you in my field (International Relations/ Political Science) perhaps we would all understand each other a little easier. Thanks for the reply!

[@mihaimoldo]

@@ReligionForBreakfast Same for me. congrats on the amazing channel and content. You deserve more followers. Recently subscribed member here,. Sometimes youtube algorithms work great.

[@anjem9418]

Islam is the truth

[@socksumi]

@@ReligionForBreakfast Are you religious? Do you believe in some god? Many of your watchers would like to know if only out of curiosity.

[@Plair0ne]

In Sweden you used to automatically get a membership in the swedish church at birth, though this ended in 1996. This might explain the relatively high membership percentages for such a secular society. I suspect that we'll see a steady decline in membership as more and more people leave the church and choose not to baptize their children into the church.

[@HerveyShmervy]

Such a shame too, sweden was a safe house for the protestant reformation

[@garret1930]

@@HerveyShmervy and now it'll be a safe house for that, along with being a safe house for secularism.

[@HerveyShmervy]

@@garret1930 the entire west is a safehouse for secularism, it isn't controversial to anyone

[@garret1930]

@@HerveyShmervy tell that to the theocrats in the USA. If they have their way there then it will spread elsewhere. Unless you don't think the USA is part of the West?

[@HerveyShmervy]

@@garret1930 secularism dominates the USA

[@pyther5019]

In Denmark we call the type of religious affiliation discussed in this video "Kulturkristne", cultural christians. They stay in church in order to get married in a church, to baptise their children and to be buried in a christian graveyard. Most only attend service once a year around the holidays, and maybe sing some Christmas songs around the tree. But in the grand scheme of things, they never really practice their religion.

[@ianlilley2577]

Thats 90-95% of Christians in Canada only like 5% go to church regularly and I assume try to follow Christian Christian teachings.

[@ramaraksha01]

Primitive backward people making God the best they knew - using their King/Dictator as a template - "We must get down on our knees, swear loyalty & obedience, beg for his mercy and hope for a reward" Little did they know that the so-called for more advanced, intelligent and educated of the 21st century would be blindly following these primitive ideas of theirs If they could see us they would die laughing at our stupidity!

[@trickjack8329]

So its a more cultural or private thing?

[@dansattah]

@@trickjack8329 Why not both? I'm from Germany, and have a Syrian-German family. My mother's German part is atheist like me, and my father's Arabic part is Christian. My parents are divirced due to non-religious reasons, and whenever I visit my father, religion isn't something we talk about. We all celebrate Germany's public holdays, mostly Christian ones, and in the end we all just get along and leave personal beliefs up to the individual.

[@thelibyanplzcomeback]

I think the vast majority of Protestants are like this.

[@Boreas74]

Religious beliefs can change rapidly, I'm 46 and when I started secondary school in Ireland 34 years ago I was the only atheist in my class. When my cousin went to the same school 20 years later atheism was the default for almost all students. You can see this change gaining pace in census results.

[@LuisAldamiz]

And the pattern is that once you lose those beliefs, neither your nor your children will generally regain them. It is a lot easier to raise a kid as agnostic or atheist than as believer of any sort.

[@zeenanity]

Luis Aldamiz easier? No. Look at so many religious parents who make their children fear god as an easy way out instead of explaining to them why something is not ethical from sociological point of view. It takes much more work to raise an ethical child instead of a god-fearing one. It is also more difficult but way more ethical to respect a child’s right to freedom of thought by not imposing your religious views on a dependent and still developing psyche.

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@zeenanity - I meant in terms ideological: your son or daughter hardly ever will be able to believe in a story he has not been brainswashed since kid into. Of course parenting is never easy, but threatening kids is bad parenting almost in every case. There are kids who if you threat them you only get more rebellion, I was one. My father said: "you see a wall and instead of avoiding it you fight against it". And I said: "sure, why should I yield to a stupid wall? If it was at least a reasonable wall..." It's dangerous to not canalize that freedom properly towards positive goals, the kids potentials must be expanded not smashed.

[@ramaraksha01]

Primitive backward people making God the best they knew - using their King/Dictator as a template - "We must get down on our knees, swear loyalty & obedience, beg for his mercy and hope for a reward" Little did they know that the so-called for more advanced, intelligent and educated of the 21st century would be blindly following these primitive ideas of theirs If they could see us they would die laughing at our stupidity!

[@maxpayne3628]

I think it's because of ignorance. Most people today are highly Ignorant about the Theism-Atheism spectrum. Like so many people left Religion Because of Richard Dawkins? That's so absurd. There's a good book on this by Tom Nicholas, The Death of Expertise.

[@marekvyrostko]

I would like to point out that Slovakia was always more religious than Czechia. Both in Czechia and Slovakia, you can see people performing non-christian rituals, dating back to Slavic paganism, such as whipping and splashing water on women during Easter. Czech secular tradition predates the communist regime, there is a *very* complicated history that involves a bunch of crusades, Hussites, and a bunch of other events culminating with the rise of nationalism at the beginning of 20th century. I would also like to point out, that gen Z in both Czechia and Slovakia are really as atheist as the statistics say, but I would love to see how it will evolve once they reach economic independence in their lives, like Millenials.

[@emanovska]

My grandparents emigrated to the US around 1915. I did not ever see one of them go to church except for weddings and a quick service at funerals. I grew up hearing more about vodnik and hasterman than christian tales. To this day there is a statue of Jan Hus in the old cemetery in Bohemia, New York. I suspect some of it started with the Hapsburgs stuffing Catholicism down their throats when they really wanted their water sprites.

[@traplover6357]

Wym by evolve? If the trend continues, there wouldn't be a predicted rise in religiosity as you grow older unless you think fear of death would increase religiosity drastically

[@TheDarkDuchesse]

@@dsu1 a lot of us are economically independent while also being on really good terms with our families so we don't separate. it's a historical thing (generations living together under one roof, for centuries) and it's quite common for grandparents to live with their children and grandchildren, or have homes very close to each other, so children not leaving their parents' house isn't that odd. my aunts made a huge deal out of their children moving out in their twenties to live with a partner. we just don't have the need to immediately get out of the house as soon as we finish high school

[@TheoEvian]

@@emanovska I wouldn't overstate the pagan-ish folklore that much, it was basically incorporated into the christian religion at that time, but yes, even though the A-H empire was highly religiously tolerant from around 1800, catholicism was always seen as the state religion and partially as an anathema to the Czech national identity (which was basically re-created in 19th century with the national revival movement that mirrored those in Germany and Italy). This was not so among the Slovaks who didn't feel like Catholic church is there to destroy their national identity and force them to speak german. Also the antagonism wasn't that strong in Moravia (which was quite culturally separate around 1880 for example, just look at Gregor/Řehoř Mendel, and much more "both german and czech" than "either or") which might explain why that part of the country is much more religious than Bohemia. After the formation of Czechoslovakia there were strong movements to form "a national Husite church" supported by TGM which resulted in actually forming one but it never was able to attain dominance and even now affiliated people are mostly catholics.

[@tomasvrabec1845]

@@dsu1 economic independence as they are kids and teens at the moment. Religion affects spendigs, not too much for individuals but as a group it's felt.

[@OMGwtfSTFUbrb]

The swedish church “membership without believing” is mainly to contribute with the church tax to renovate and conserve the very old churches out in the sticks. My mom is in that camp. She has 0% belief in any kind of god but she likes to look a churches out of a purely architectural fascination. When we go somewhere far by car as a family there is often some old church we stop at on the way that she has picked out before we leave. When there we usually inspect the church, looking at interesting building techniques and trying to spot what parts are older and what is later additions on the building. So cultural landmark preservation is one important reason for that Swedish statistic.

[@Donderu]

More or less the same thing, but my mom stays in the membership because she likes the charity work they do. Even though she’s technically catholic, lol

[@chendaforest]

Yes that's the same with me. I like visiting mediaeval churches but it's more for the historical and architectural interest than any religious convictions.

[@uliuchu4318]

in germany, there exists the term "U-Boot-Christen" ('submarine christians', because they surface only once a year) which sums up the attitude of many europeans towards religion pretty well imo. Religion doesn't play a significant role in most europeans lifes (there are some regions which are exemptive to this trend, e.g. catholic southern europe and parts of poland) However, many people still identify as christian... at least enough to show up to the annual nativity play or similar EDIT: Judging by most comments below my comment did sound as if i was lamenting that fact which I am clearly not. I am deeply convinced that society is better of without religious dominance over culture... Especially a single ne like christianity, high religious diversity where all crackpots cancel each other out an enrich the clour palette of culture that is fine to me, though....

[@HerveyShmervy]

It's kinda the same in the USA too, some dude once told me "i go to church on easter I'm a christian"

[@suspicaxrohde2310]

I've heard the term C&E Christian to refer to people who only go to church on Christmas and Easter.

[@appleslover]

I am muslim and I only go to mosque on two fests Eid al adha and Eid Eid alfitr

[@shodan658]

My family are Christians from Jordan (Jordanien) and I can say the same about the majority of Christians in Jordan.

[@radioactiveowl95]

Sounds a lot like the UK, at least in England.

[@boblarkins1134]

I've lived in China for months at a time periodically over the past twelve years. It has always confused me when I hear people say religion is illegal there. Buddhist temples are everywhere and the government pays to restore and maintain them. People visit there, but they do not attend services of the type we are used to. Religion seems very personal, without structure. There is still a belief in ancient mythological beings. For example, in many homes you will find a shrine to Guan Yu. He's a tall bearded guy with a halberd who protects your home. I have concluded that the Party does not have any problem with such beliefs. It's when a religion becomes organized and can influence citizen's thoughts that they become anxious and shut them down.

[@grumpyrabbit1934]

Yep, you’re right. If they don’t involve in politics, they have no problem. But if they do, not just nowadays, in history, there were four famous emperor Destroy them which called 三武一宗灭佛. In modern China, the latest one is falungong which is a cult. Most anti China media on KZbin was Sponsored by them.like that famous one, China uncensored

[@SparklingBlue89]

I think "people" mean organized religion which is very difficult to practice in China. Superstition is very prevalent in China as well.

[@leapedrosa4475]

The confusion happened because so many people can't distinguish the difference between religious denominations from Religion. Religious denominations are mistakenly regarded as Religion. So those who don't belong to their religious denominations are considered non religious.

[@RageyRage82]

Statistic tell you that you are quite wrong. Millions have been killed for their religion in China. The whole propaganda of the Chinese communist party is to tell you they are "tolerant". Human rights groups around the world will tell you about China's intolerance towards religions, especially those they do not give state approval of.

[@alexandruaurelianoprea3066]

Chinese government has a problem with christianity...

[@trignich7716]

As a czech growing up in a non-religious enviroment I have hard time understanding other countries and how can they be so religious (such as the US) and even bring that into politics, healthcare and other places where is doesn't belong imo

[@tombuell2782]

Imagine you're surrounded by a bunch of people who are SUPER insecure about their beliefs, now imagine those same people desperately want you to believe what they believe in so they can feel better about themselves That's america

[@josfol]

You do not need to go so far to USA to take this exemple. Czech´s neighbour Polen is the most religious country in Europe. To compare these 2 catholic countries the Czechs least and the Poles most religious in Europe. Isn´it very strange? Of course, indeed.

[@anjem9418]

Islam is the truth

[@UGNAvalon]

I’m a semi-religious American born & raised here, and even *_I_* wonder how so many Americans are so (near-fanatically) religious! 🤯

[@FINNSTIGAT0R]

@KaiTheRefuter Religion distorts people's perception of the world in favor a mystical world view, which is based on nothing real, therefore furthering ignorace and bad decision making in the world.

[@HAngeli]

This is so curious. What I see, considering my childhood friends and such, is that people whose parents were very religious - like me - end up getting annoyed by religion and leaving the church. But my friends whose parents were religious but had a rich secular life, wouldn't pray at every moment nor go to church every single weekend, remained religious and actually got more religious as time passed

[@jeremyrobinson5834]

"Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it." Proverbs 22:6 My father brought me up with strong spiritual precepts. He wasn't a religious fanatic , notvat all. in fact he was very open minded & thought outside of the Traditional Religious box, he even believes in alien life. but he did believe in God and and was a very upright moral man. Actually he was one of the most moral men I've ever met. and he raised me with a spirtual upbringing. But in my youth , I got caught up in the Secular world, & temporarily becam an atheist. But I had things that happened in my life that are hard to explain. I guess they were kind of like miracles & Spirtual presences that I've encountered. And that really shook me & restored & renewed my faith in a higher power. .now I'm in my 40s, and I am back to my roots, and study scriptures everyday , not just christian scriptures , but also Buddhist & hindu, and even Hermetic philosophy. But I've come full circle & I study & pray everyday now. 😊

[@kathryngeeslin9509]

I've seen it both ways. My own parents were not very religious. My mother had a few nutty notions, not churchy though, and my father found more spiritual sustenance on a lake than in any building. They dropped me off for Sunday School regrettably, we often sat together in church, we all disliked nosy church biddies. I moved through New Thought types, Unitarian Universalist, Wicca, studying any and all religion/mythology, landing atheist. Most atheists I've met started forced fundamentalists, then pagan.

[@ramaraksha01]

Primitive backward people making God the best they knew - using their King/Dictator as a template - "We must get down on our knees, swear loyalty & obedience, beg for his mercy and hope for a reward" Little did they know that the so-called for more advanced, intelligent and educated of the 21st century would be blindly following these primitive ideas of theirs If they could see us they would die laughing at our stupidity!

[@amigosdocarro4600]

@@ramaraksha01This is how Hindu culture originated

[@MrCmon113]

There's exceptions to everything.

[@spaceslav8954]

I'm a Czech Catholic and I sometimes feel like the last member of a species lol

[@damienasmodeus928]

Now imagine being a Czech pagan

[@AarontheGreatXCII-kn4gj]

*We are with you* 🇻🇦

[@Nehmi]

Imagine how the Jews feel

[@humanity600]

Oof. Sorry bro.

[@cmartinez1903]

Proud of you!!!

[@freakyscottdude]

In Ireland there is a huge discrepancy between people who say they are catholic and those who actually pray, attend church or even believe. This I believe is primarily political, being Catholic to some, is just another way of saying, not British

[@chendaforest]

Although of course many Irish nationalists were protestants (Wolfe Tone, Parnell etc)

[@jamesnomos8472]

There's a funny byproduct of irish catholicism over here in Australia where religion seems on a terminal decline, but due to huge historical irish immigration creating a very large catholic minority, catholic education is practically a third pillar of education next to public and private.

[@DavidLaFerney]

You are the very first person within my personal experience who effectively and intentionally addresses religion rationally - as a scientist - to a mass audience. You are like the Bill Nye of religion - and that is awesome. Keep it up!!

[@farshadshalforoush8532]

It's interesting to see Azerbaijan on the list. I personally identify as an Azerbaijani from Iran and as I know, there are a lot of religious people in the Azerbaijan Republic. It is also interesting to know that Iran, although an Islamic country, doesn't practice Islam that much. In fact Iranians, especially the younger generation is getting secularized more and more every day.

[@thecurunkavirusnationallib5465]

Interestingly, there was a online survey just released a few months ago by the GAMAAN on the religious demographics of Iran which stated that as of right now, only 40% of the country's population identified as Muslim. Although while it has been criticised by some for its methodology, I do think it's a good indicator that religiosity is on the decline in Iran. theconversation.com/irans-secular-shift-new-survey-reveals-huge-changes-in-religious-beliefs-145253

[@TheGribblesnitch]

It’s shame so many people see Iran as a despotic apocalypse country when really it’s a republic just like ours. Gods speed

[@カスカディア国人]

SickoModeGaming2775 hold up, hold up, now don’t get me wrong, I would like America to leave Iran alone too and for tensions to be pulled back, but Iran is a theocratic republic, it’s not a democratic republic, and I would argue that my own country is an oligarchic republic despite how much it claims it’s a democratic one, anyway Iran does at least not make the claim that it’s democratic, they admit openly that they have a special system that’s very unique to them. They do have elections though. But remember, the Soviet Union had elections, you see, in the 20th century several countries got the idea that you could have elections, but in order to maintain control for the ruling powers, you have a group decide who the candidates running are, this is done in various ways, and I won’t tell you where they got the idea from but there’s actually a country we all know very well that’s had a system that usually works like this since it was created, but anyway in Iran specifically basically a religious body gets to decide who runs and even appoint certain people to the government. In the Soviet Union it was the Communist Party who decided who runs, and in some countries, the wealthy decides who runs to the point you’ll see the same people funding both candidates at times when it gets really out of control. I think this is a terrible idea personally and that it causes countries to fall apart once people start to realize they don’t actually have real choices because the system isn’t actually responding to them. People do catch on eventually that it’s not actually about their best interests when you have these systems.

[@カスカディア国人]

SickoModeGaming2775 anyway on to my other points, it is being hurt pretty badly by the US, it’s been a long struggle for Iran against America, since the 1950’s America has tried to basically steal their oil. So in that sense, it’s in a pretty bad place economically because of sanctions and embargo’s over the decades. As far as civil liberties go, Iran is pretty bad about that, Islamic law is part of the law in the country, could you imagine if we had Christian law in the west? That would suck wouldn’t it? That would be pretty controlling if the government implemented that right? Now, what is it we should do about that? Leave them alone as much as we can and here’s why, when America and Iran were going to do a deal together the moderates were starting to get a foothold and it actually was starting to look hopeful for Iran, but since America started escalating tensions with Iran again it’s caused the hard liners to get back a lot of support. Now they can say “see we told you not to trust them” and they would be correct about that and give them back some popular-legitimacy, but still you obviously don’t want to live under these guys even if you are a religious person and it’s sad that this has all happened.

[@カスカディア国人]

I think that growing up with internet and internet in general secularizes people because you get exposed to content like our friend religion for breakfast here, you start to see that there’s all these other cultures and religions out there and you interact with people from them and you just begin to believe that even your own religion is not a big deal and that these things all have overlap and could be as equally valid or not valid as what you already believed. I mean I can remember when we first got internet, one of the first things I did was read an English translation of the Quran because I wanted to know what Muslims believed, and what do you know, they believe in something very similar to Christianity, to the point that they share many of the same characters and stories and even many of the same values. I then learned about alot of other religions, and that definitely played a role along with a few other things in making me question my own religion at the time, and as a result I eventually became an atheist, watching videos about and arguments for atheism also helped, along with the fact that I believed in science so ideas like evolution, at first I tried to integrate with my faith, but I eventually realized that it contradicted too much, my old religion quit making sense to me, and my cognitive dissonance wore off, and I would read the Bible and be bothered by the things I read, especially the Old Testament. I just eventually said “I don’t believe this, this is goofy” and became an atheist.

[@MrsKoldun]

China only tops the list, because their ancestor worship mixed with elements of Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism is not classified as a religion, despite having all aspects of a religion. People go to temples to pray for all kinds of things, they pray to their ancestors or Buddha or folk gods like Caishen 财神 and offer sacrifices for their ancestors and burn heavenly money so their ancestors who are in the afterlife can obtain that money. China is very religious in that regard. Chinese religiosity is a mixture of all fours "teachings" and does not really set strict boundaries between them, the lines are extremely blurred.

[@2tehnik]

I'm no expert, but doesn't Guan Yin have dharmic roots? I'm not sure I'd call her a folk goddess.

[@ohamatchhams]

@@2tehnik It's a Chinese or Mahayana/Vajrayana Buddhist deity, Mahayana Buddhists tend to classify Guanyin as a Boddhisattva while Vajrayana ones (including the general Japanese Buddhism) classified Guanyin (or Kannon) as full-fledged Buddha, Guanyin is directly being an emanation of Amitabha which in some Mahayana also believed that Amitabha itself is an emanation of "Primordial Buddha", so it is certainly an entity from East Asian or at least since early Mahayana Buddhism development

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

No, China tops the list because religion is outlawed by the communist government. Those who don't want to be labelled enemies of the state keep their mouths shut when asked about such things.

[@wholewheatcracker3561]

Ggdivhjkjl the CCP has outlawed religion in a traditional sense but the way many Chinese people venerate their ancestors, participate in various traditional cultural rituals as well as widespread belief in things like qi show that much of Chinese culture is inherently religious but not in a western sense, similar to Japan, they can participate in these fairly religious rituals but still be considered non religious according to western ideas of religion

[@MrsKoldun]

@@Ggdivhjkjl The government does not classify the things that I outlined as a religion (but as a philosophy), that's why everyone who practices these things is considered irreligious on paper.

[@AnkfordPlays]

I'd like to point out the disclaimer that while regular church attendance in Denmark is very low, church weddings, baptism and church funerals, and Christmas service is still extremely mainstream. Right now in Denmark (December 2020 for you future people), there's a debate going on in the media whether churches should be affected by the Covid lockdown, one side says churches should always be open on principle while others say that cinemas had the same requirements and were forced to close to why should churches be treated differently.

[@DarktroopX]

When talking about history of Czech Republic and its connection to religion, you should mention the burning of Jan Hus, following Husite wars and Christian crusades against the Czech lands. This Era in our history created massive mistrust towards church. Many people may belive in religion, but they will not commit to a church.

[@Artur_M.]

In my opinion, the roots of the Czech case and why it's so different from not only the Slovak but also the Polish one (despite being so close ethnically and having a similar historical experience with communism) go back all the way to the 15th century and the Hussite movement. Long story short, the core Czech land, confusingly called Bohemia in English, became Proto-Protestant a century before Luther and remained predominantly so until the Thirty Years' War, which resulted in a *forced* re-Catholicisation while being overall disastrous for the country. I think that it made the Czech Catholicism more "shallow" and weaker, especially since the modern Czech nationalism looked back at the Hussites as national heroes while having in general a secular character. Anyway, a fascinating video! I very much liked how you explained the difficulties in measuring religiosity. PS. You could make a video about the Bohemian Reformation.

[@anonvideo738]

Its called bohemia because bohemia is not the same as czech. Bohemia is a part of the modern czech state, but there is also silesia. Kind of like how spain used to consist of aragon, navarra and castille, which in part consist of calaonia and valencia (aragon) and leon and asturias. So bohemia is just a part of czechia that was united under one crown at the time.

[@Artur_M.]

@@anonvideo738 Yes, but Bohemia in Czech is 'Čechy' (the whole country, consisting of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia is called 'Česko') and the ajactive 'česky' can mean both Czech and Bohemian. In my language both the region of Bohemia and the whole country is called 'Czechy'.

[@LordDamianus]

@@anonvideo738 I'm pretty sure referring the historical Czech Kingdom state as "Bohemia" pisses many Czechs off because it's like saying that Czechs didn't exist back then and its inhabitants were people called Bohemians speaking a language called Bohemian. Bohemia in Czech is ''Čechy'' and it's an older term than "Česko" which seems artificial as Czechs came up with it in around 18th century. Since Czech Republic can be nowadays referred as "Czechia" I see no problems with fixing the history books and calling the former Czech Kingdom as "Czechia". I really have no idea why the English-speakers are so stubborn to refer the former kingdom as "Bohemia".

[@tomassiegl512]

@@LordDamianus Some people are stubborn about Bohemia in the same way as they are stubborn about Eastern Europe. They are not going to change their terminology. While refering to Czechia as a part of Eastern Europe is culturally and historically incorrect, there is nothing wrong to call Czechia as Bohemia since it is an old name of the country.

[@LordDamianus]

@@tomassiegl512 But it creates a confusion, like it was a different country with different people at the time.

[@ninjafury5374]

Weird, most people i know that were raised religious ended up straying away from it. But the most religious people i know found it themselves in their adulthood

[@menarion2527]

Well they often are the most vocal but definitely an exception. All studies show that you inherit in vast majority the beliefs of your parents. New convert are always more prolific because they feel they just got the truth so they really need to apply it and are enthusiastic. Plus religions loooooove so much parade with new convert as proof they are the One True Faith. I had so many testimony of people who got their life together thanks to recieving the good version of the good news (but obviously ignoring people who converted to another faith or stopped believing).

[@geraldchurchill5576]

@@night6724 Is that so? If it were there wouldn't have been a huge rise in atheism between about the mid 20th century until now (in the west).

[@MH-tn3pp]

Very true !

[@yachishairclips2250]

@@menarion2527 yes... Church ploy.. Loves to brag about new converts and how their life changed

[@thelibyanplzcomeback]

When they can finally be independent and find their true selves.

[@eliskakordulova]

I'm czech and I remember that during a class in high school our teacher asked if there's anyone who goes to church and one person out of 30 reluctantly raised her hand and even got embarrassed about it. Now that I look at it I imagine this being the exact opposite in the USA with admitting you're atheist.

[@nevets2371]

While it's certainly much more common to be religious here, it really depends on where you are in the country, people are much more religiously active in states like Utah and the appropriately named bible belt, but go to places like Oregon and New York and you'll find things are much more similar to Europe

[@clevelandrocks1-ow5nc]

Atheists are very common in cities in the United States.

[@thelibyanplzcomeback]

I live in South Carolina and I had a similar question asked by one of my teachers back in middle school. I'd say less than half the class said they went to church.

[@marekglowacki2607]

Czech secular traditions predates communism times.

[@alananimus9145]

Can i get more on that?

[@richardaubrecht2822]

@@alananimus9145 Basically, (we) the Czechs spent te 15th century in religious wars, and most of the contry was later Protestant - then the 30 years war came and everyone was forced to convert. And then we spent two centuries of Catholics attacking the remaining/newly permited Protestants, the liberals and nationalists attacking the Catholics (seen as servants of the Habsburg/German opppresion and main conservative force) and so on. Under this barrage of anti-catholic, anti-protestant and anti-liberal propaganda most people simply stopped caring at all, being religious in name only. People started defining themselves by their language and nation, not their religion. And then Communism came and destroyed the influence of all churches.

[@alananimus9145]

@@richardaubrecht2822 interested

[@daanwillemsen223]

Jan Huts right?

[@anjem9418]

Islam is the truth

[@skoog7091]

There is even a saying in Sweden. That translates to “It’s fewer people here than in the church”. Meaning that it’s very few people in the room.

[@MrHazz111]

6:49 That water drift tho

[@projectbreadwinners2942]

hazem ameen that was pretty sweet

[@soundsandmusic.3689]

Man that’s was pretty sick lol.

[@bigboy9983]

Thanks for this. I know of nothing about your background but clearly you have a depth of knowledge that shows you have an academic understanding. You don’t seem to have a religious bias which is refreshing. Keep up the good work.

[@BlackHatMDA]

You’re confusing people keeping traditions and being religious. As for Scandinavian countries, it’s a tax thing. They have the option to pay a small percentage of their income to churches, thus reducing the taxable portion of their income.

[@shigemorif1066]

My mom always had an omamori (Shinto or Buddhist amulet type thing) for safe driving and gave one to me when I got my first car. From then on, I've always had one. I've never thought of it as religious, but I guess it could be!

[@aliciamontero7061]

D Di, How would you feel if you had to drive without one during a long journey? Would you feel safe?

[@shigemorif1066]

I've driven long distances in rental cars without it, so I wouldn't feel unsafe. I just find it comforting when I do have it in my own car.

[@aliciamontero7061]

@@shigemorif1066 thanks for answering !!

[@faithlesshound5621]

Somewhat like a medallion of St Christopher. With "Sancte Christophore, iter nostrum protege" inscribed on it? Which may be a good luck charm rather than a profession of faith.

[@skripnigor]

Strange how you missed USSR where religion was basically eradicated. I was born in 1981 and my parents, grandparents and grand-grandparents had been atheists which was pretty standard. Ironically the communist repression of religion made it kinda feel like a ‘forbidden fruit’, so after the collapse of the Soviet regime there was a wave of interest in all sorts of spiritual, new-age stuff. However it was hardly more than just a fad. Our current regime is trying to twine Christianity into their ideology, but it looks ridiculously contrived. In general, I would say, most people seem to be non-believers de facto (74 years of anti-religion propaganda did the job), but they avoid the ‘atheist’ label because it is historically associated with the ideologically bankrupt Soviet past.

[@KateeAngel]

Actually many people retained religion during USSR, some not even in secret. My grandmother and mother were born in 1927 and 1952 respectively, and both were baptized soon after birth, and were always believers. Greatgrandmother and grandmother were going to church during some holidays. I was baptized after birth too in 1993, and was a believer until teen years. Only later I became an atheist. You don't even know that Stalin started to ally with Orthodox church during ww2 and later? Many priests spied for KGB

[@celer2010]

I can vouch for Estonia. We have so few believers it's amazing. The statistics are off, though, because we have a sizeable Russian-speaking minority who are Russian orthodox. Among Estonian-speaking Estonians belief in God is really rare, like one in a hundred. As an exemplary case, a county capital, Jõgeva, has 5073 inhabitants and their church community consists of 44 people. I know this because our populist right wing party wants to build them a new church for a million euros, and people are up in arms because of that.

[@LuisAldamiz]

Let's build a wall, I mean: a church! What for? As museum for those living fossils, what else!

[@hunchanchoc8418]

I've heard that Estonia is a pretty nice place. I must try to visit there. It would be nice to find a country that is worth living in.

[@gatopsaro4262]

Well , maybe the fact that Estonia was one of the last places in Europe to be "christianized" ( by force ) , the decades of Socialist rule , or perhaps solely because of your people's culture and mentality ( i've heard both Finns and Estonians are practical thinkers ) , has something to do with it

[@ramaraksha01]

Primitive backward people making God the best they knew - using their King/Dictator as a template - "We must get down on our knees, swear loyalty & obedience, beg for his mercy and hope for a reward" Little did they know that the so-called for more advanced, intelligent and educated of the 21st century would be blindly following these primitive ideas of theirs If they could see us they would die laughing at our stupidity!

[@hunchanchoc8418]

@@ramaraksha01 Exactly. The Flying Spaghetti Monster is perfectly sufficient to replace all religions. Then we might actually achieve a bit of peace (?)

[@alchristensen8121]

My sister and brother-in-law were Mormon missionaries in Denmark (which is also one of our ancestral homelands). Their very meager proselytizing success was among immigrants. My BIL complained Danes were too comfortable, too contented, too happy to worry about their eternal wellbeing. That fits with the existential insecurity theory.

[@paulkoza8652]

Is there a lesson here for Mormons?

[@alchristensen8121]

@@paulkoza8652 - Absolutely.

[@adityaguru6654]

China has some of the most beautiful Buddha statues. A connection between India and China. Hope our relations will be better like before 🇮🇳🕊️🇨🇳

[@shashwatsinha2704]

It's a shame we have to fight for some barren mountains. We could help each other so much.

[@adityaguru6654]

@God الله Allah 😂. Not at all. Communism is not stable. After 50, 100, 200 years or more it is bound to fall, cause in this modern world people need freedom.

[@JoeTheBroken]

@God الله Allah the modern Chinese state not even communist tbh theyre state capitalists

[@btsismyoxyjin2013]

It will never improve until and unless Xi Jinping is on power

[@My-nl6sg]

Its not just Buddha either; When Buddhism was spread to China, many elements of Hindu-Buddhist culture from India was fused with indigenous Chinese folklore and inspired quite a lot of cultural development!

[@PotatoTrain]

One thing with the Swedish church tax is that it means that your funeral is payed for outright upon your death. All costs have been paid off by your taxes so your family don't have to pay costs. That said if they wanted to do things differently they could still pay extras out of pocket

[@PennyAfNorberg]

I stay in the swedish church just to maintain the buildings.

[@marklewis4793]

..they should give you a halo,..lol

[@shashwatsinha2704]

What do you mean by stay?

[@shashwatsinha2704]

@@jimkallerholm6692 Thanks. I wish we had something like that to restore old Hindu and Buddhist temples.

[@thurisazt1800]

@@shashwatsinha2704 That he or she is still a member of the church

[@shashwatsinha2704]

@@thurisazt1800 He cleared the point and then they deleted their comment it seems.

[@pepinie1]

I am Czech and I am Atheist. My father was, my grandpa was, my grandgrandpa was... I belive only in myself.

[@γιουργια]

Common Czech W

[@Sarah-pn9ut]

I just wanted to say that I'm really happy to have found your channel! I'm a (lapsed) Catholic and it's really hard to find videos and communities on the internet that discuss religious history and doctrine without being overly bias or disrespectful. These videos are a great stepping stone to get interested in theology. On a side note, do you plan on doing any video discussing Baphomet and the Knights Templar?

[@KreeZafi]

I'm Swedish and based on my lived experience, religion is basically nonexistent here. Some traditions linger, like baptisms and church weddings/funerals, but that's only a tradition thing rather than an actual religious thing. I have only met one actually religious Swedish person in my life. In fact, religion is so nonexistent here that I spent a good chunk of my childhood completely unaware that there are lots of people in the world who are genuinely religious. When we learned about religion in school (which included both Norse mythology and Christianity at a young age) I thought of it as a purely historical thing, like "this is what people thought back in the day before we knew better" basically. It was a minor shock to realize that people - particularly in developed countries - still very much do believe that stuff. As for people identifying as theists or atheists, I'm curious about how those numbers are found and how we should interpret them. Although I've only met one proper Christian here, I have encountered several people who aren't atheists but they also are not Christian. They will give some vague answer about how "I think there's, you know, something bigger than us or whatever" but they will not identify that thing as the Christian god and they have no interest in the Bible, it doesn't affect their lives in any way. On the other hand though, a lot of people won't identify as atheists even though they are, because since religion is so nonexistent people don't really "identify" as the lack thereof, it's just the default. Calling oneself an atheist is more meaningful in a society where theism is the norm, but here people don't really think about it at all. Furthermore, I must admit I'm very curious about the demographic in these questions. I wonder how many of the theists represented are native Swedes, versus how many are immigrants or of immigrant heritage. I've only met one Swedish Christian, but I've met plenty of Muslim immigrants, and one of my best friends is from Liberia and her family is Christian. I wonder if the statistics would be affected if demographics were compared separately? Lastly I want to point out that religiosity can vary a lot by different definitions an attitudes. There may be a handful of "religious" people in Sweden, but you will hardly find ANY that are as religious as people in for example the USA. The average American Christian, as far as I can tell, seems to be what would be considered pretty extreme here even for a self-proclaimed Christian. Weekly church attendance, Bible reading, and proclaiming Jesus Christ as one's lord and savior would put someone pretty far outside the norm. Particularly you will have a VERY hard time finding people who genuinely believe in the Bible or cite it as a source for morality or a code of conduct. That's just not a thing.

[@NietzzTube]

'In fact, religion is so nonexistent here that I spent a good chunk of my childhood completely unaware that there are lots of people in the world who are genuinely religious' - I absolutely experienced the same as a child (grew up in the Netherlands)

[@rattuna4773]

As an American I couldn't even imagine a society without religion, and I wasn't even raised "religious" as my parents didn't got to church or pray. Even still, Christianity is so predominant in the American conscious and culture that it's been present in my life since I was born. Even though my family didn't consider themselves Christian, I still had a vague belief of God for as long as I could remember, excluding my teenager atheist phase. I couldn't imagine atheism ever being the "default", yet it's quite a bit more common on the internet and in cities. Good luck finding an atheist American outside them.

[@KreeZafi]

@@rattuna4773 I actually used to be in a relationship with an American, and visiting him was a bit of a culture shock (even though he lived in California, which to my understanding is comparatively more progressive and less religious). Although I knew Americans were religious, it was still kind of jarring to actually see. Like just the fact that there were "churches" everywhere that weren't proper churches, more like random classroom-looking areas, giving the impression that so many people wanted to go to church that they needed to rent spaces and set up camping chairs lol. Just the way religion permeated everything and was taken for granted was so strange.

[@flyingfish5686]

I think In Asia like Japan or China religious practices are more like cultural tradition, and very few people actually believe in them

[@paulkoza8652]

Coming from Czech ancestry, the lack of strong commitment to religion in the Czech Republic goes further back than its days under communism. My dad used to say that he was an atheist. He was born in 1906 in Chicago of parents who immigrated from Bohemia. It was then under Austrian rule. Upon arriving in America, about 75% of the Czech immigrants dropped the Catholic religion as it was affiliated with the hated Austrian empire. My dad's family did as well. If one goes further back in history, the Czechs have a strong connection to Jan Huss as not only a religious reformer, but a political one as well. Huss stood as a Czech nationalist and instilled in his followers modern ideas, at the time, of what constituted religious beliefs. And so it continues to modern day. It comes as no surprise to me that the Czechs view themselves as "enlightened," unlike fellow slavic cultures in Poland and Slovakia where attachment to strong religious beliefs were part of their national identity. This undercurrent of lack of religious belief by the Czechs did not arise in recent history, it has been there throughout the modern era over the past 500 years.

[@kalinmir]

*czechs have a strong connection to the Paladskyean narrative about Jan Hus and movement emerging after his execution

[@josephmillraney1061]

Andrew have received your PhD yet? What was/is your dissertation on? Thanks, have thoroughly enjoyed your channel since I first tuned in.

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

I defended the PhD in August! It was on Christian liturgical phrases being used on magical amulets.

[@josephmillraney1061]

@@ReligionForBreakfast please let us know when you receive your degree. Hoping for everything wonderful for you, Andrew.

[@JabberW00kie]

ReligionForBreakfast I wouldn’t mind reading about that. Please let us know if/when it gets published!

[@wendyspear]

Congratulations on your PhD, Andrew.

[@josephmillraney1061]

@@ReligionForBreakfast Andrew, is there a way to get a copy of your dissertation? The topic sounds most intriguing. Thanks for responding, I really appreciate it.

[@natrixnatrix]

Historically religion in Scandinavia has mostly been about two things. An excuse for whoever has the most power to gain more power and a way to show others how much power you have.

[@Nolamiamicitizen]

Yeah, that doesn’t sound sustainable at all, since all systems of power seem to erode over time. Fusing a religion or spiritual system with political power will “cheapen” it and limit its existence around the term of that political system. The “display of power” in Christianity is Jesus and followers painfully laying down one’s life on the cross (sorta like a paradoxical negating effect against the traditional way of thinking about political power perhaps). The Roman Catholic Church is an interesting case study where Christianity seems to played a role in the downfall of the Roman Empire, but then became a “new” Roman Catholic “Empire” (albeit far from a perfect one). The Roman Catholic Church is tied to a failed but nostalgic ancient Roman empire and this seems to have helped it. The U.S. Episcopal church was tied to the British empire until it was not with the U.S. revolution, and that was a cause for “confusion”. Belief in a “failed” empire seems like a “stepping stone” towards belief in the “confusing” Christian system where power is “canceled out” and “blessed are the poor”.

[@Helperbot-2000]

Norwegian here, two non religious parents, never had any religion in my life other than classes in school. and if you count me visiting some churches (for history) (btw the second closest chuch here is more than 800 years old)

[@sterey3571]

Wow, I wish my parents are also non religious

[@arnbrandy]

I don't think Andrew has a shortage of ideas to explore but here is one I'd LOVE to see: why didn't African religion prosper in the US as in Brazil or Cuba, for example?

[@anthonypc1]

Such an important point you lead with here. spent a few hours discussing just this with a lovely new friend last night. The more I learn about the pervasive influence of religiosity, the more I realize how vaguely broad a term it is. It's necessary to clarify which aspect of "religion" we want to discuss. I like your simplest breakdown components here: 0:37 *Beliefs* -- including what a scriptural *doctrine* actually says OR how it's selectively, (often hypocritically) reinterpreted by different sects or communities or individuals... plus all the supplemental superstitions and moral values that develop in the religious culture beyond a textual bases; And the *ritualized practices* that members keep; And (most of all, in Western societies at least) our *communal identity* that people can affiliate themselves with, for a feeling of special belonging or connection to culture and ancestry, often without actually practicing the prescribed rituals of attending worship centers on any regular bases, and even less commonly bothering to actually READ whichever old book they hold up in high esteem. But as you say, it's probably more complicated than we can easily think about at once in our human minds :P

[@nuadarstark]

I wouldn't chuck the irreligious/agnostic/atheist tendencies of us (Czechs) just to the communism. We're just in general skeptic people who don't like the doctrines & dogma of organised religion. The cynism (when it comes to organised religions), goes all the way to pre-Reformation era and the religious conflicts and oppressions that went on from the time of Hussites all the way to the 19th century. We went through crusades being called after us, to being Catholic again, to be mostly Reformed to the win of Counter-Reformation and hundreds of years of forced Catholic faith (and cultural suppression in general) under the Austrians. So when Communists took over in 1948, it was fairly good fit with the cultural mindset of the country. It's why we never came back to it after the pro-democratic revolutions of late 80s, unlike Slovakians, Poles, etc. I come from one of the more religious regions of my country (South Moravia), and even throughout the 50s-80s, big amounts of people in my regions were theists. It was really after the 90s and democratic Czech Republic when it massively accelerated (acceleration that keeps going, just as you mentioned). I mean, we did have Pope Pius II write this little quote about us even back in 1450 - "Let’s hear an unbelievable story about Czech people, worst scumbags under the Sun, who betrayed one true Catholic church. People in the whole kingdom are overdrinking and overeating, superstitious and always wanting new inventions. Aristocracy is fame wanting, war experienced, danger despiting, promise-keeping and endlessly hungry." Also, I wouldn't put anyone who believes in something supernatural as in any way shape or form "religious". If I believe in aliens (or any random nonsense) I believe in something supernatural, yet I'm may not at all be religious.

[@angelikaskoroszyn8495]

Yeah, if it was just communism Poland would also become pretty secular. Since Catholicism became a part of national identity (our greatest enemies have been either protestant, orthodox or atheist) practicing it was (and still is) very important

[@americanliberal09]

*We're just in general skeptic people who don't like the doctrines & dogma of organised religion.* It's just religion, dude. Religion by itself is an organization. When you are part of religion. You are a part of an institution. So it's very redundant to say "organized religion". *Also, I wouldn't put anyone who believes in something supernatural as in any way shape or form "religious".* Well, too bad that you actually have certain types of atheists who'll still wanna believe that "believing in the existence of god makes you religious", because they tend to associate god with religion most of the time(nevermind for the fact that theism, and religion are not one, and the same). So they still wanna believe that it's only atheism that's not really a religion.

[@DefaultFlame]

As a Swede, I have only met 2 people who were religious. The priests I've know through life were not as focused on the religion as they were on the lessons to be learned and the help it can give people when they need moral support.

[@msbonsaihuman]

I was surprised not to see New Zealand on the top of this list - with 48% of the population stating they have no religion in our latest census. But it appears we were left out of the surveys.

[@martintomanek7145]

In Czech Republic, there is a huge numbers of people who are into mainstream esoteric. It's like religion before creating canon.

[@martintomanek7145]

@Marie Baho It's postmodern mix of relgions, new age salad.

[@samliske1482]

This is in my top five favorite channels on KZbin. Getting into your vids this year gave me such a greater understanding of human psychology and now I’m considering doing a religious studies minor!

[@BroNumsi]

I think you really nailed it with the "indifference" reference. People in Sweden don't care about religion. Some of us care even less and have actively chosen to leave the church we were born into, but most Swedes think of it as "culture" or tradition, and find truly religious people to be a bit odd. Sure, you might get married in church, etc, but that's more often than not just because that's what you do. It has little to no religious meaning. It's just a quaint tradition.

[@GargamelGold]

Andrew, What about the question of which countries are the most religious? If we apply the same criteria to them, would we find any thing else that we might find equally surprising?

[@starlingvass3605]

Hey! I just wanted to say thank you for what you're doing. I've always been fascinated by religion and mythology. However, once I got into highschool the increased workload of school and working a job I didn't have as much time for my own personal study. I found your channel last year and I love watching it. I recently started dedicating more time reading about religion and mythology and I am absolutely so happy with it. I'm a junior in high school right now, decisions are coming and I've decided I'm going to major in religious studies. That is mostly because of the work of this channel. Thank you so much for what you're doing, it has brought me back to my love of studying religion and has drastically changed my future. I'm so excited to study religion in college and I would love to eventually get a PhD in it and teach. So really, thank you.

[@ramaraksha01]

Primitive backward people making God the best they knew - using their King/Dictator as a template - "We must get down on our knees, swear loyalty & obedience, beg for his mercy and hope for a reward" Little did they know that the so-called for more advanced, intelligent and educated of the 21st century would be blindly following these primitive ideas of theirs If they could see us they would die laughing at our stupidity!

[@orcbolado9041]

makes a video about shamanism and explains his relationship with animism and totemism! (which by the way deserves a video too) and explain what a shaman is and its difference to a priest. I would love for you to talk about 😊☄️

[@diogomenezesramos9462]

A video on shamanism would be interesting, I would like you to talk about the possible existence of shamanism in Western Europe in the Paleolithic period and your difference to animism

[@orcbolado9041]

@@diogomenezesramos9462 From what I've already researched the difference is that animism is more comprehensive and not all animism is shamanism but all shamanism is animism shamans would be the greatest animists I aim to make Direct contact with the spiritual forces, Anyway, I would like him to talk about shamanism

[@bugonaykishig354]

No.

[@orcbolado9041]

@@bugonaykishig354 why "no"?

[@davidcheater4188]

OK, there's a problem with discussing 'Shamanism'. While the term is Finno-Ugric it was placed on top of a lot of religious expression of colonialized and oppressed peoples. It's become a way for people to make up a whole lot of guff about Indigenous cultures or to steal cultural property. A discussion about Tengrism would be interesting. A discussion led by Indigenous people about Indigenous spirituality would also be interested - but I'm well aware of how a lot of Traditional Indigenous people are wary of discussing their traditions given the horrific and disrespectful ways Indigenous peoples continue to be treated.

[@SagaciousEagle]

Maintaining a good degree of religious ambiguity in one's social, political, and spiritual life (if there is any) will save you from progress-hampering social punishment one might have to go through. In other words, do what others do, pray when they pray. Be a great pretender. Praise Sol!

[@lukeshdoesntknow]

Great video! You strike the perfect balance between making the information easily understandable but also don't dumb it down or talk down to your viewers

[@StarlitSeafoam]

Thank you for clearly confirming, with evidence, the sneaking suspicion I've had all along. Religion is complicated, and one survey only just scratches the surface. I wish more surveys would ask questions about fortune tellers, horoscopes, and use of folk magic practitioners, or personal use of folk magic. It would be most enlightening, I think.

[@proximo692003]

I've been greatly enjoying your videos sir! I've had experiences lately that has me looking for answers and you have helped me so much.

[@Trashplat]

You know what impressed me? The audio quality. At least on my device the sound quality was perfect.

[@brahmse9409]

Wow! The comments on this video are all very personal and/or informative even when opinionated. This is truly the more thoughtful side of KZbin. By the way, I am a Christian. I watch Religion for Breakfast to learn about myself, my community of believers, and how others live out their beliefs. God bless everyone in the comments!

[@Arshva]

In my case I was baptised because "what will the others say if I'm not?" I went to church with my parents I think a maximum of 5 times. We also keep paying taxes to the church/religious affiliation cause otherwise we won't be able to get married in a church or be buried by a priest and then "what would the family say?"...

[@airingcupboard]

Subtle point. You're right. Despite the indifference to religion, confirmation ceremonies are huge in Norway - there's massive social pressure to have a confirmation.

[@frida507]

Being Swedish I think your video is quite accurate. I'm still a member of the Church of Sweden, since birth and haven't opted out even though I'm quite secular. And just as you say I'm not really atheist either. A typical Swede I think in that we like to be able to go there for special occasions. We love traditions the church choir at S:t Lucia and,the atmosphere and cultural heritage. Also the local churches do some charity work and counseling. Many exit just to avoid the church tax. I figure if everybody leave they would have to close the churches and sell the buildings which would be a shame. Even if I'm not actively religious I still respect the sanctity of the building, wouldn't like to see these medieval churches be used as....for example night clubs, dancing on the graves. I know all this is not very logical but I don't care really. Like the royal family. Republic seems more modern of course but I still like to keep them. If they misbehave too much I might change my mind. Same with the church. Had they been aggressive and backwards like American Evangelicals I would quit of course. But the Church of Sweden are very liberal and never calls you out on how much you actually believe. :) I guess they understand the consequence, they can't use scare or shaming tactics on us. And wise thoughtful words and stories may apply regardless. Many of the agreed upon values in society are valid regardless of weather you are religious or not.

[@dandiaz19934]

Phenomenal work. Thank you for presenting this research in such a solid and approachable way.

[@laurathenavigator4445]

I am new to your " Breakfast. " Have you ever featured the Eastern Orthodox Church? It is difficult to hear that many people think all Orthodox are Greek, when we are from all over the world including the Mid East where Christianity began (not Rome). I was born in America and attended a Carpatho-Russian church originally, but now attend church at an Arabic Orthodox Church. Everything is in English and the services are the same all over the world. You are very gifted in your knowledge and presentation of all the religious information. What thoughts or instruction might you give? I think sharing information brings understanding and hopefully peace. I loved the presentation on the Evangelical Church. I understand them a bit better. Blessings to you. Laura

[@danielx40]

Oh my god, this channel is so good. I always wonder why people get into religions. By studying why some people don’t, you know why others do.

[@CandorHispanus]

It's been noted in other comments, but I'll concur that a history of Early Modern Bohemia (which became the Czech Republic) more accurately explains why they are so thoroughly secularized. Bloody conflicts like the Hussite revolts and the Thirty Years' War contributed to the anomaly of an early secular state.

[@viteydarniy7]

As a Czech protestant, from time to time I attent a church with origins in Netherlands. Sermonts are in English, so it's quite international (foreign workers, African students etc.). I like those guys, but sometimes they are so money oriented it literally awakens my inner Hussite and I start humming Ktož jsú boží bojovníci. They don't understant... Anyway, still better than believing in horoscopes :)

[@brianh870]

I would be interested in hearing how religiosity in the USA is affected by the pandemic.

[@toxendon]

I'm sure the effects of the pandemic will be studied for decades to come

[@willygees]

I love this channel and how he discusses religion. It's very much an inoffensive way to religious people yet not trying to prop religion up as an answer

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

It discusses it quite strangely. Missing the entire point of religion.

[@TheBeird]

"Consumer" is the biggest religious affiliation in the modern world.

[@iamdigory]

Hear! Hear! It's a religion almost everyone practices constantly, but almost no one believes.

[@Nero_Karel]

@@iamdigory They may not think so, but they do - hedonistic personal freedom and mammon are their highest gods

[@iamdigory]

@@Nero_Karel yeah, maybe I should have said nobody will admit to believing it

[@LuisAldamiz]

What choice do we have unless we get some decent land reform?

[@iamdigory]

@@LuisAldamiz live as simply and communally as the government will let you

[@pagemastrogiovanni9195]

It was pointed out by an Asian Buddhist that Taoism and Buddhism are actually philosophies though they are treated as religions. Some others say Taoism and Buddhism are both...and it depends on the person how they view them. I view Buddhism or did view Buddhism as a religion and Taoism as a philosophy....but now I view both as philosophies that I incorporate into my Christian faith.

[@lshulman58]

I love it: your "goal is to complicate what we mean by..." Way too often academic sources tend to over simplify religion, for the sake of categorizing ideas to help students understand. Result: an overly simplistic understanding of religion that hardly pans out in reality. Though, in my experience as an educator, I do find my students do tend to come out of their one and only class in religion with a greater, broader and deeper understanding than they held when they went into their study. It should be important to emphasize to them that religion is a lot more complicated than they may think, even after being "educated" in it. I love when students say they are "more confused than they were before."

[@ages6592]

In Sweden many people remain as paying members of the state church so that the actual church buildings will be taken care of, mostly because they are often very old and beautiful and also in order for there to be places where funerals can take place and to lesser extent baptisms. Weddings in churches are still quite common but becomes less and less popular.

[@greguz]

Interesting video. Take a look at The Inglehart-Welzel cultural map of the world. Secular versus religious can also be viewed as secular vs traditional. As the video also sort of hints at, there's another dimension of survival vs self-expression. With similar high levels of secularity, China belongs in the Confucian dimension, with the lowest self-expression, Czech belongs in Catholic Europe with intermediate self-expression, and Scandinavia belongs in Protestant Europe, with the highest degree of self-expression values. It could be argued that protestantism is the ideology that is most susceptible to secularization. So, the type of religion in the past affects the levels of religiosity today.

[@jpcw2335]

Been religiously following a whole foods, no alcohol, calorie deficit for 2 months now. Forced to watch a 15 second Pizza Hut commercial to watch this video lol

[@evelyngil4822]

What is calorie deficit,,like a fruitarian?

[@IronX77]

Could you do a video about your own religious beliefs, and how they have evolved over time?

[@StarlitSeafoam]

I LOVED your "This is more complicated than you think" disclaimer.

[@Pangan_Pazan]

I’m from sweden I don’t know any believer. I myself have never been in a church except at the school end.

[@smigboke9878]

@@greenergrass4060 leave them alone you freak

[@npcx-mq6cr]

OHhhhhhhhh so gratifying to see one's theories expounded so eloquently. I think I need a cigarette now. Seriously, I love this channel. Keep up the great work.

[@acdcljb]

Well, the Czech Republic is unique in its colective refusal to filling a survey or poll sincerely and truthfully, no doubt enhanced by 50 years of criminal regimes as mentioned in this video (although with roots deeply in previous centuries). The Czechs simply were trolling before it was cool to do it online, which is espicially true for questions about culture or social issues. For example, according to the latest census, there is only 60 % Czechs in overall population while in reality it definitely is highly over 90 %; people just ignored the question or filled in total nonsence (such as writing in "Jedi Knight" for a religion in such sheer numbers that it should be state-recognized group).

[@sophroniel]

I'm LDS and from my extensive research into family history, I'd wager that a contributing factor is that people or groups prone to devout or extremist religious observance likely emmegrated to places like America, New Zealand, South America and South Africa, leaving those more religiously indifferent remaining in Europe.

[@stefannikola]

Thanks for using the word "indifference" without making it sound like an emotional coldness or mental illness. It's just a lack of feeling or interest in a subject.

[@henrikleion9861]

Indifferent, like he said, was a benign description of the attitude towards religiosity in Sweden. I’d even go so far as to say that religious individuals are at best treated with fascination, more often with suspicion but all too often with fear or disdain. As a result of this attitude, religiosity is almost never brought up in a public forum - even the party leader for the Christian Democrats dodge the question if she believes in God, and so do many priests - for fear of appearing ignorant. Religious communities do exist, but they are mostly quite isolated.

[@ABird971]

Well done. How often have I tried to explain this to my American friends. I feel confirmed.

[@ntmn8444]

Yes, some of us are aware of how Europeans don’t believe in God and that they think we are freaks for being a religious country. Yes, I’m totally aware, and I don’t care. This has been a trend for Europe since after WWII.

[@ABird971]

@@ntmn8444 I didn't mean to offend you. Your comment however confirms the message of the video and how Americans view religion.

[@IkeOkerekeNews]

@@ABird971 Except no: fivethirtyeight.com/features/its-not-just-young-white-liberals-who-are-leaving-religion/

[@ABird971]

@@IkeOkerekeNews They are still Christians.

[@IkeOkerekeNews]

@@ABird971 And Czechs are still Christians. Your point is?

[@felixcantournet]

I like how the whole CREDs thing is a nice label around the empirical data point that if you were not endoctrinated at an early age there is very little chance that you would become religious by conviction once you're an adult. With exception for adults experiencing massive crisis.

[@Dog-999i]

I wonder how the Corona Virus pandemic will affect religion. It seems like everyone in the US has become even more religious.

[@azn3000]

I would say the sense of religious identity has gotten stronger in US states with a strong conservative majority. The pandemic may have had an effect on it but it also comes from an increasing polarized political culture.

[@EJ-jx9te]

Yh I agree. On the flip side however, I've noticed many young people or people who were hanging on to their faith by small threads have almost fully deconverted because of being out of physical Church spaces for months and having time to question their beliefs to themselves.

[@nebulaone908]

As a teenage Christian, I agree. I'm surprised of how many have become more aware of God during quarantine. Maybe it's because everyone is depressed, or that many people think God cursed us, which isn't really that hard to understand.

[@HyraxusPrimus]

@@nebulaone908 I think this year in general has been a reminder of our mortality. Not one of us, poor or rich, famous or mundane, is guaranteed one more day on this Earth. Perhaps it doesn't necessarily inspire an existential dread in everyone (although I kind of fell into that a couple of weeks ago, and had a serious confrontation with doubt), but at least a reminder of what's really important in life.

[@labrat585]

This year made me become an atheist because of the black lives matter situation and time to research my religion and scientific findings

[@tonox0]

Great stuff as always. Love your videos and also I like the comment section of this channel 🙂

[@elizabethshaw734]

My fiance is Chinese living in China where I used to live. He is Christian. The government doesn't have such a Stranglehold on it any longer but they simply say don't ask don't tell.

[@zliu4208]

I would argue the most unaffiliated Chinese are not concretely atheist despite being taught philosophical materialism in state schools. I have observed my grandparents and parents practicing ancestral worships and other practices involving the supernatural since I was a kid. Many religious practices such as “tomb swiping” on Qingming festival, various wedding and funeral rites are seen as cultural instead of religious. Sometimes, as an agnostic, I even feel pressured by my families to observe those rituals. Ever since Xi comes to power, it seems like the government has become more active in building a cult of the Chinese nation state. Is that politic? Is that nationalism? Or is that religion/cult? I am not sure.

[@EzeHSK]

A mix of everything maybe.

[@kathryngeeslin9509]

@@zliu4208 Yes, all of the above.

[@brend1800]

@@zliu4208 I wouldn't call what Xi is doing creating a cult of the state. The issue is that China no longer being subserviently passive means that it will be called a cult for having self-determination.

[@azn3000]

I had a teacher from China who was Christian and was active in the house churches in her community. One time the service they were having was reported to the authorities and when the police knocked on the door, they were completely honest about what they were doing. Then they simply left. She said that so long as you aren't "too big" the authorities don't care.

[@righteousforest5538]

As someone who was never religious or spiritual at all, even though I was raised in a fairly religious area, it is so hard for me to fathom that 1% of people praying daily is a notably tiny statistic from one of the more secular/nonreligious countries. Looking from the outside, it's such a peculiar and alien practice. Like, if I think about it objectively the number makes sense as a statistic but when I think about it from the angle of "X people in this room have quality Y" it blows my mind!

Swede here, I haven't been to church since I was in middle school, and that was only because we had to visit different churches/temples/etc. as part of the religion class.

[@Bbq7272]

Interesting. I was at Stockholms Storkyrkan just before St Lucia and the young people there rehearsing for it seemed really keen on the whole spectacle, though I doubt it was from any sense of belief.

@@Bbq7272 Of course, there are a small but fairly active group of church goers even in Sweden, which of course also includes some young people. But if I were you, I would not rely too heavily on that one single anecdotal experience you had in the church, nor would I rely too heavily on a single anecdotal testimony (in this case my own) to try to form a accurate opinion on the religious state of an entire nation. The facts and evidence based sources provided in the video above does a much better job of painting an accurate picture than any one persons testimony would.

[@KateeAngel]

Most "religious" people here in Russia don't go to churches at all. My mom always went one or several times a year. But I, even though I truly believed in Christianity before my teen years, didn't go. Only maybe for tourist destinations.

[@RustyTube]

Some people get in church only three times (two of which they are brought in by others): Hatch, match, dispatch.

[@nickverbree]

GAH you named dropped terror management and I was so hoping to find you'd already done a video on it. I first learned about if from The Flight From Death: the Quest for Immortality" and I'd be so very interested in an analysis of terror management theory in current religious studies. Any chance you'd tackle it in the future?

[@faithlesshound5621]

That's an interesting idea. So organised religion should oppose good healthcare to keep the populace fearful? And insurance may also be an enemy of religion. That might explain some of the oddity of the US.

[@nickverbree]

@@faithlesshound5621 Um, I don't think that's really what terror management theory is about (in my admittedly limited understanding) "The flight from death" is available free on KZbin if you want to give it a watch; maybe see if it gels with your ideas?

[@grahamrankin4725]

Glad you put this out.

[@fangru7294]

I am from Czech - 24yo and i never met anyone in my country who is religious...

[@flawyerlawyertv7454]

Amen 🙏

[@Classyelll]

It’s so nice to hear about spiritual people who are not connected to institutional religion

[@gmcrosa]

I am a bit disappointed you didn't mention the Uruguayan case. Being a secular country in a very religious continent I think deserved to be analysed. I hope you study our case one day, I would love to hear your comments. Do you know we started XX century by establishing a calendar that masked all catholic holidays with civic names? For instance, here in Uruguay we don't talk of "semana santa" (holy week) when refer to easter week, but "semana de turismo" (tourism week). Interesting video anyways. Thanks and greeetings from Tacuarembó, Uruguay!

[@flawyerlawyertv7454]

Thanks for the info. Very interesting. Here in Brazil, we call it "semana santa".

[@p.bamygdala2139]

Great work on a complex topic! New questions: 1. What is the correlation between climate/latitude and religiosity? Closer to equator = more religious Closer to North Pole = more secular 2. Is "Americanism" a religion? What about political parties? What about political systems, democracy or communism? What about sports teams, specific TV channels and news outlets, social media, and celebrities?

[@jeremywvarietyofviewpoints3104]

The North Pole has only one Christian - Santa, so you must be right.

[@MrCmon113]

@@jeremywvarietyofviewpoints3104 I thought Santa Claus was Odin.

[@ziontours5893]

A bit ironic that all three of the Scandinavian countries have a cross prominently featured on their flag, yet are classified as the least religious countries in the world. With regard to the theory that more modernisation leads to less religion, I've always believed that there are pendulum swings of religiosity: a period of low religiosity will be followed by a return to religiosity and then back again.

[@Pranav-rp8wi]

Actually, in desparate times people turn to populist leaders, religion, xenophobia etc.. so, every once in a while people become more religious..

[@ziontours5893]

@@Pranav-rp8wi I don't think it has anything to do with desperation. For instance after having religion suppressed for so many years under the Soviet system, there's a revival of Christianity in Russia today when the people are in a far better position both economically and politically. Also Islamic fundamentalism developed in Saudi Arabia among the wealthy echelons rather than among the poor.

[@Pranav-rp8wi]

@@ziontours5893 I was thinking about countries with democratic history

[@natashac16]

I love your videos! I think it would be interesting to see a video on the Falun Gong :)

[@natashac16]

This is why I’m curious what ReligionForBreakfasts’ take on it would be, because he referred to it as a religious movement. Although he’s very particular about the word “cult”.

[@francescoazzoni3445]

In Italy my impression is that religion is for most people a part of culture rather than something you have to believe; many people ignore religious rules (at least when it means they should do something) but participate to rituals because they are part of their identity like going to church, although not many, marrying in church and pray saints to get benefits. In fact in Italy very few people convert to other churches even if they disapprove of the catholic church or its teaching.

[@chefchaudard3580]

Same here in France. There are much more baptized people than believers🙂. For most people, religious rituals, like baptism, wedding are more cultural than religious.