Education, the working class and religion.

[victorhadin]

Working on notable examples in the Western world such as the United States, Sweden, Britain and Germany and comparing between themselves and against developing nations in the middle-East and Africa, would it be correct to say that there is a rough inverse correlation between the standard of a nation's education and the average level of religious fervour expressed by its population?

Furthermore would it be a wise assumption to assume that the working class in a given society are likely, by the same argument, to be more dedicated to religious beliefs than the middle and upper classes, or does general society-wide education prevent a sizeable disparity?





I am talking about societies here rather than individuals, hence my accent on the word 'average'. I am not trying to imply that religious people are uneducated, so before you jump to that conclusion; don't.

[Darth Wong]

Working on notable examples in the Western world such as the United States, Sweden, Britain and Germany and comparing between themselves and against developing nations in the middle-East and Africa, would it be correct to say that there is a rough inverse correlation between the standard of a nation's education and the average level of religious fervour expressed by its population?

Yes. That is no secret; depressed education levels are always correlated with elevated levels of religious fervour, particularly fundamentalism. However, it also depends on the type of religion; a Canadian survey many years ago indicated that Hindus have the highest average education among the major religions in Canada (it correctly failed to count atheism as a religion, so I'm not sure how it ranked). The Jehovah's Witnesses had by far the lowest rate of education, with only a miniscule fraction of them boasting a university degree.

Furthermore would it be a wise assumption to assume that the working class in a given society are likely, by the same argument, to be more dedicated to religious beliefs than the middle and upper classes, or does general society-wide education prevent a sizeable disparity?

Yes, although that is merely a ramification of the correlation between education and religious fervour.

I am talking about societies here rather than individuals, hence my accent on the word 'average'. I am not trying to imply that religious people are uneducated, so before you jump to that conclusion; don't.

Religious people aren't necessarily uneducated, but a lack of education makes one very susceptible to religion.

[InnerBrat]

Furthermore would it be a wise assumption to assume that the working class in a given society are likely, by the same argument, to be more dedicated to religious beliefs than the middle and upper classes, or does general society-wide education prevent a sizeable disparity?

I think there's more to that than education. Peaople at the bottom of the economic and social scale like to think they can get out of it, and prayer is one of the possible methods.

altough, the ToE, when first expounded by Chambers in Vestiges (a few years before Origins and with very dodgy pseudoscience as a basis), was seized upon by the working classes, as the religious and educated elite, which were at the time one and the same, saw their elevated positions as a God Given Right.
Wallace, for example, had a working class backgorund, and was a soicalist, and that was his main motivation for working on evolution and coming up with Natural Selection.

[XPViking]

a Canadian survey many years ago indicated that Hindus have the highest average education among the major religions in Canada (it correctly failed to count atheism as a religion, so I'm not sure how it ranked). The Jehovah's Witnesses had by far the lowest rate of education, with only a miniscule fraction of them boasting a university degree. - Darth Wong

Do you have a link for this survey?

XPViking

[Raptor 597]

Religious people aren't necessarily uneducated, but a lack of education makes one very susceptible to religion.

True. But Fundies are educated mostly on the norm right in most areas except with anything that defys Christain doctrine. That is the difference between Fundies of today and the superstitous ones of the past.

[Darth Servo]

The Jehovah's Witnesses had by far the lowest rate of education, with only a miniscule fraction of them boasting a university degree.

They're so obsessively convinced the world's going to end any day now (have been for more than 100 years) they feel no need to go to college. Don't need an education in paradise. Morons.