Land Of Hope & Heathens!

A BBC survey for the 'What the world thinks of God' debate, has shown us Brit's up to be the bunch of heathens we really are...

When asked whether we believed in God, only 67% of us returned an affirmative; the lowest of the ten countries polled. When it comes to saying our prayers, well, the faith of the nation appears to be on its knee's (or not, as the case may be), with only 28% of us chatting to the big man with any regularity.

The factor I find most surprising, is the sizeable divide between Britain and the US. Apparently, over 90% of Americans maintain a belief, with almost 70% indulging in frequent prayer; double that of the UK. Politically, demographically and culturally, we're pretty much spooning partners so, why the difference in our religious beliefs? Personally, I think it's all down to the marketing. The snippets of American, evangelistic extravaganzas we're occasionally blessed with, portray larger than life characters brimming with power, presence and profit popularity. A million miles from the low budget, off peak, comfy sofa chit-chats that seem to be the preference of the UK God squad. In a nutshell, our ministerial marketing moguls simply lack the pulling power!

Mind you, I'm not complaining. A five minute scour around Google News always reconfirms that religion is for the other folk:

A selection from today's 'Facts About Faith':

HOT OFF THE PRESS!

It seems that the Taliban are on the way back, with their 'special' brand of recruitment techniques:

"A convoy of about 20 Honda motorcycles surrounds a house, looking for people who support the United States or President Hamid Karzai. If they find one, they kill him. If not, the householders are beaten to serve as a warning to others."

The "love thy neighbour" trends ensue in Israel as:

"the flesh and the bones were collected from the bus and the street and delivered to Israel's lone forensic center. As always, Dr. Jehuda Hiss, the director, carried out his grim duty of piecing together the broken bodies and tending to the raw emotions of the living."

And the perceived integrity of Catholicism continues to escalate as we hear that:

"over the previous half century in all 4,392 US priests had been accused of sexual abuse."

To save you opening your calculator, that's an average of nearly two a week, every week, for fifty years!

Topping the 'I'm a believer' poll with an almost full-house, was Nigeria. Quite understandable, I suppose. When it comes to needing prayers answered, they deserve to be out there in front. After all:

"There is no backbone, there are not basic things like electricity and good roads. What good is a government if it cannot provide those sort of things?"

Maybe they've been hampered by the fact that:

"No less than $200 billion (about N27 trillion) was lost to corrupt practices in the country between 1970 and 1993 when oil emerged as a dominant source of foreign exchange."

Religion eh?... The key to peace, tranquility and global harmony!