Survey Zone

These days I refuse all requests to participate in surveys, whether it is from the bank asking me to rate my financial planner; my dealer asking if I am satisfied after my recent car service; or Australia Post asking about my "experience" after they delivered a parcel to me (yes, it really happened!).

Unsolicited survey requests are intrusive and get a polite but swift and firm rebuttal.

"No, go away!"

Some surveys have their use, though. Despite refusing to contribute to surveys, I - perhaps hypocritically - like to read surveys about politics or religion. I like to know which political party is favoured to win the next Australian general election; and I also like to read surveys which document the decline of religion and the hypocrisy and immorality of Christianity.

This article in Psychology Today confirmed something which I had long suspected: that as a whole, Christian people are more likely to be prejudiced against people who are different to them (migrants, gays, atheists, muslims, skin colour etc) than people who are free of religion. 

It was always a thought I got after observing the attitudes of Christians to asylum seekers, unmarried mothers, gay marriage etc. Here in Australia, Christian leaders will often ignore the fact that we are a multicultural society and preach about maintaining our so-called "judeo-christian" heritage.

Back to the article.

Two recently published 2018 studies, one in America and the other in Europe were referenced in the article:

1. American Survey by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI):

"In this study, Americans were asked how they feel about census predictions indicating that by the year 2043, African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and other peoples of color will constitute a combined majority of the population, with whites being in the minority.

More than half of white Evangelicals (52%) said that this demographic shift would be a negative development, 39% of mainline Protestants similarly see it in a negative light, along with 32% of Catholics. But the “religious group” least likely to see such a change negatively were actually those without any religion at all; only 23% of non-religious/secular Americans said that they viewed the predicated changing racial and ethnic demographics as a bad thing".

2. European Survey by PEW:

"It was found that religious Europeans are considerably more ethnocentric, more nationalistic, more anti-immigrant, and more suspicious of Jews and Muslims than secular Europeans.

For example, while 54% of church-attending Christians strongly agree with the statement that “our culture is superior to others,” and 48 percent of non-practicing Christians share such a view, only 25 percent of secular people do.

And while around 30 percent of both church-attending Christians and non-practicing Christians say that they are not willing to accept Muslims into their families, only 11 percent of secular people express such a sentiment. And in most European nations, Christians are significantly more likely to want the number of immigrants reduced when compared to their secular peers".

Long story short: Christianity - in general - fosters piety, xenophobia and intolerance towards people who do not look like them or do not share their particular beliefs, looks or lifestyle.