Belief generally declined globally. Belief in God is declining slowly in most countries around the world, according to a new poll, but true believers still can be found in developing countries and Catholic societies. The Beliefs about God Across Time and Countries report, released recently by researchers at the University of Chicago, found the Philippines to be the country with the highest belief, where 94 percent of Filipinos said they were strong believers who always had believed. At the opposite end, at just 13 percent, was the former East Germany. The report covered data from 30 countries that participated in at least two surveys in 1991, 1998 or 2008. In 29 of the 30 countries surveyed in 2008, belief increased with age: Belief in God was highest for those ages 68 or older (43 percent), compared to 23 percent of those younger than 28. While overall belief in God has decreased in most parts of the world, three countries—Israel, Russia and Slovenia—saw increases. Atheism and unbelief were most prominent in northwest Europe and some former Soviet states, with the exception of majority-Catholic Poland (just 3.3 percent).
Bible translated into Inuktitut. According to United Bible Societies, the complete Bible has been rendered into 469 tongues as of 2010, and this spring, Inuktitut can be added to the list. An entire Bible in the language of Inuit people and the most widely spoken aboriginal tongue in Canada's Arctic will be dedicated at an igloo-shaped church in Nunavut, an autonomous region carved out of the Northwest Territories in 1999. Begun in 1978, the massive task marks the first time in Canada a translation of the whole Bible was accomplished entirely by native speakers of the language rather than by white missionaries. The full translation follows the completion in 1991 of an Inuktitut New Testament, now in its fifth edition. Canada's last census found about 33,000 speakers of Inuktitut, part of the Eskimo-Aleut family of languages.
Narnia or Neverland? Evangelicals prefer Narnia, Catholics opt for Wonderland, and mainline Protestants are split between hitching a ride to Hogwarts, Narnia or Neverland. Those are the results from a unique poll by the television show 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair magazine. The survey asked 1,000 Americans what fantasy land they'd most like to visit. Evangelicals showed a clear preference—28 percent—for Narnia, the fantastical world of C.S. Lewis' series The Chronicles of Narnia. Alice's Wonderland was many Catholics' cup of tea, with 21 percent saying they'd like to take a trip down the rabbit hole. Peter Pan's Neverland (18 percent), Harry Potter's Hogwarts (18 percent) and J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth (16 percent) weren't far behind. Mainline Protestants were split similarly between Neverland (19 percent), Narnia (18 percent) and Hogwarts (18 percent). Among those listed as "other" religions, Hogwarts was the clear favorite (31 percent). And Middle Earth led the way for those who professed no religious affiliation (23 percent). The survey, conducted in late 2010 and recently highlighted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, includes a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
—Compiled from Religion News Service
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