Belief in God essential to morality?
Pew Research Center recently conducted a survey that revealed that many individuals believe that belief in God is essential to morality. Though a majority of the people from countries that were surveyed expressed that faith and morality are inseparable, this was only true for developing nations with smaller economies.
Out of the 40 countries that were included in the research, 22 of them showed that their citizens had the belief that faith in God is essential to having good moral values. This was the case of countries in the Middle East, Asia/Pacific, Latin America, and Africa. For instance, in the Middle East, countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and the Palestinian Territories, and Lebanon were more apt to uphold belief in God. Only the Israeli participants in the survey expressed that belief in God was irrelevant to having a moral life.
The results were similar for Asia, and Latin American countries also. While less wealthy nations such as Indonesia, Pakistan, El Salvador, Bolivia, and Malaysia indicated that belief in God was essential to morality, while more developed nations such as Japan, Australia, China, and Argentina showed opposite views. Citizens of countries such as South Korea expressed divided opinions.
Countries in North America and Europe however, overall showed negative responses to the question of relevance between belief in God and morality. The overall view was that non-religious people are also able to live upright and honest lives. More than half the people who participated in the surveys from each country including the United States, Canada, France, Italy, the U.K. and Russia shared this opinion.
