Re: New study says religion could go extinct in some countries
B McDonald March 23, 2011 at 2:39am
I have read the math in the paper. The flawed assumption is that the so-called utility of religious affiliation is exactly the same for all citizens of a country, be they frequent church attenders, people who hardly ever go, or atheists. This is clearly untrue. In New Zealand the drop in census affiliation is mostly among people who weren't particularly religious anyway, while actual attendance numbers are growing for many churches. I think the trend will bottom out and start to go up.
B McDonald March 23, 2011
at 2:39am
I have read the math in the paper. The flawed assumption is that the so-called utility of religious affiliation is exactly the same for all citizens of a country, be they frequent church attenders, people who hardly ever go, or atheists. This is clearly untrue. In New Zealand the drop in census affiliation is mostly among people who weren't particularly religious anyway, while actual attendance numbers are growing for many churches. I think the trend will bottom out and start to go up.