Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kwangjuchicken]

My nine years in Korea I would say that about 80% of my students believe in God. Many polls show that in many places there is about 50% or higher percent who believe in God. Some say world wide it is about 75%-80%. However, it seems that most EFL teachers I have met and from the posts at this site that very few ESL teachers believe in God, and think that thoses who do are nuts, etc. Because this site seems to be so anti God, I wanted to do this poll.

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[uberscheisse]

i do not believe in god.

2 basic reasons:

all documented occurences of divine intervention have since been explained away by modern descriptions of mental illness, bad weather and plate tectonics.

second - i go through what can be described as a religious experience when i see a good band, hear a choir sing, look at a breathtaking vista. it's not god causing that - it's my amazing mind interacting with the beauty of nature, harmonic convergences, etc.

i think that the assertion that god may exist is that people get caught up in these experiences and want to attach some kind of otherworldly quality to them. i don't think that's natural or right.

[Gopher]

Not sure either way.

[ED209]

Define God. Did you mean believe in a god or God?

[BritishinSuwon]

I do believe in God, and (I guess ironically) this came after years of being an agnostic.
I have many reasons for re-evaluating my position on the believe of God, which I'll keep to myself, as I've seen the attitudes towards the religious on these boards and I don't want my faith to be called into question or to be flamed by those who don't agree with me.

[blurgalurgalurga]

I'm with Phillip Pullman...down with the Authority!

[Zaria32]

Most children don't know if they believe in God, they only know that their parents do or don't...

[DrunkenMaster]

[friendoken]

I do not mean for this to be facetious, sarcastic, or anything else of the kind, but, I believe I am god, and so are you, and you, and you.

As gods are omnipotent and infallable, there is no distinction between good and bad. Thus, the kindest person in history is the same god as the most vile.

Why are some people focused on an external entity as god? Because, they are incapable or unwilling to handle the responsibility themselves.

Therefore, put me down as a yes. I believe in god.

[Adventurer]

I do believe in a higher power, and many people choose to call that power God.

[arjuna]

Belief and non-belief are equally ignorant.
Ignorance is not a problem and nothing to be ashamed of.
Arrogance, on the other hand, is stagnation.

[friendoken]

Quarter of Canadians don't believe in any god, poll says
TIMOTHY AVERY

The Canadian Press

May 31, 2008 at 11:39 AM EDT

TORONTO � Fewer than three-quarters of Canadians believe in a god, suggests a new Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey.

"Religion in Canada today is not a particularly divisive subject and tolerance levels for different beliefs are high," said Harris-Decima president Bruce Anderson. "This is evident in the fact that one in four people feel comfortable saying they do not believe in a god."

The poll found 72 per cent of respondents said they believed in a god, while 23 per cent said they did not believe in any god. Six per cent did not offer an opinion.

Polls have told a different story in the United States.

"Canada's secularism stands in clearer distinction, when compared to the cultural and political influences of religion in the United States," Mr. Anderson said. "In one Harris Interactive study in the United States, conducted in 2007, the number who said they were non-believers was only eight per cent."

Keith Howard, a United church minister and executive director of the church's Emerging Spirit program, said the results of the new survey do not represent a dramatic change from previous polls about Canadians' beliefs.

"We are past the time of people trashing God," he said. "They are now trying to find a safe place where they can nurture that spirituality."

He said a poll done for the church last year indicated Canada is a nation of believers, not "belongers."

Mr. Howard said his sense is that people who believe in a god increasingly imagine a nebulous but powerful force for good, rather than the traditional concept of a deity.

Indeed, he likened the concept to that of the Force in the Star Wars movies.

A study quoted by Statistics Canada in 2006, found "adult Canadians attach a higher degree of importance to religion than religious attendance figures alone would indicate."

The study noted only one-third of adult Canadians attend religious services at least once a month.

But the study, conducted in 2002, found more than one-half engage in religious activities on their own at least on a monthly basis.

Mr. Howard said a recent survey done for the United Church rating the importance of religion in the daily lives of people around the world placed Canadians fourth, behind the United States, Mexico and Italy.

The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey data were gathered by telephone from just over 1,000 people between May 22 and May 26.

A sample of the same size has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The Harris-Decima poll also indicated:

Women (76 per cent) were more likely than men (67 per cent) to say they believed in a god.
Canadians over the age of 50 (82 per cent) were far more likely than those under the age of 25 (60 per cent) to say they believed in a god. More than one in three (36 per cent) of those under the age of 25 said they did not believe in any god.
English Canadians (73 per cent) were more likely than French Canadians (67 per cent) to say they believed in a god.
Belief in a god is higher in rural Canada (76 per cent) than in urban Canada (69 per cent).

[Vancouver]

only a quarter? I was expecting nearly half

[Gopher]

[Maserial]