# Religious Dopers: How Observant Are You? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 4, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778 "2011-07-04T03:19:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/41 "2011-07-05T23:51:10Z")
I go to church every week unless I’m sick or there’s an emergency. I’ve also considered going into ministry at some point in my life. ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/42 "2011-07-06T08:10:55Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > As I said, I’m an atheist, so I don’t have much of a dog in this fight, but I’m a bit puzzled by the hostility to **Qin** ’s question. For me, it’s likely subconscious resistance to the idea that every religion is shaped like US Protestant Christianity and has the same ideals, values and relationship with its texts as US Protestant Christianity (this also comes up when, for example, people insist that belief in [a] god[s] is necessary for a religion to “count”). It is frustrating and often hurtful when people marginalise and eliminate one’s religion (which can be a defining aspect of culture and identity) like that. I might guess that’s where some of the hostility you’re perceiving is coming from. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/43 "2011-07-06T12:31:53Z")
I never ever go when I’m out of town - to me there’s nothing more uncomfortable than a foreign church. When I’m at home, I go every Sunday, except Father’s Day. I don’t go to church on Father’s Day. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/44 "2011-07-06T16:07:36Z")
I try to go to shul every week, if I don’t oversleep and the weather isn’t too horrible to walk fifteen minutes in. Granted, the oversleeping happens a lot more than it should. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/45 "2011-07-06T18:26:21Z")
> [@SecondJudith](#): > > For me, it’s likely subconscious resistance to the idea that every religion is shaped like US Protestant Christianity and has the same ideals, values and relationship with its texts as US Protestant Christianity (this also comes up when, for example, people insist that belief in [a] god[s] is necessary for a religion to “count”). It is frustrating and often hurtful when people marginalise and eliminate one’s religion (which can be a defining aspect of culture and identity) like that. I might guess that’s where some of the hostility you’re perceiving is coming from. Sorry, it’s petty nitpicking simply because it’s a Qin thread. I’m sure that he knows not all religions require weekly services, but it’s a start because there’s no simple way to ask this question as a poll. He uses a correct definition of observant, even if observancy is different in different religions. Finally, if you don’t like the thread, don’t participate in it. This isn’t a great discussionon what religion, god or observancy is. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/46 "2011-07-06T21:59:17Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Dismissive snark aside, _I_ bothered to read the links you googled. > > 1st link. Where does it address the issue at hand? In the part where it says - > [@](#): > > reviewed approximately 200 recent studies on the relationship between religious commitment and psychopathology as well as a half dozen previous review articles integrate findings from studies that used different measures of religious commitment / these include comparing members of religious organizations to nonmembers, **measuring degree of participation in religious activities** … Which is what you supposedly were asking about. > [@](#): > > 2nd. It only pertains to Catholics and protestants, and it recognizes the problem of just using attendance because evangelicals tend to skew higher, so they use a wide variety factors to determine religiosity. And they found that participation in worship was a good marker - > [@](#): > > When various measures of religious commitment are included as independent variables in multivariate models of political attitudes, their performance is remarkably similar. It appears that the standard additive indices of religious commitment commonly utilized by scholars of religion and politics are adequate for most analyses of social and political attitudes. > [@](#): > > 4th. Catholics only. So? If you wanted something else, you should have asked. But now you are (of course) moving the goal posts. > [@](#): > > 5th. Christian only. Not a study but a theory, and it defines intensity of religiosity on how people view the Bible, whether it is authoritative, frequency of attendance, and how much they tithe. > [@](#): > > The most commonly used measure of religious behavior is church or worship service attendance. Research shows that the act of attending alone exerts a powerful influence on individuals. > [@](#): > > 6th. Just an incredibly long list of articles with no way to determine what they conclude. I don’t know which cite is more useless-this one, or #3. Like I said, you aren’t posting in good faith, so rubbing your nose in all this isn’t going to help. You asked for one study that used attendance at worship as a measure of religiosity, you got a cite for dozens, now you are whining. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/47 "2011-07-06T22:19:43Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If one person’s religion has services that occur once a week, and that person goes every single week, and another person’s religion has services three times a week, and _that_ person only goes twice a week, who is more religiously observant of their particular religion? I came in here to mention this. Bahais have service once every 21 days, I think; I have an ex who never missed a service. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/48 "2011-07-06T22:21:30Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Sorry, it’s petty nitpicking simply because it’s a Qin thread. > I’m sure that he knows not all religions require weekly services, but it’s a start because there’s no simple way to ask this question as a poll. > He uses a correct definition of observant, even if observancy is different in different religions. > Finally, if you don’t like the thread, don’t participate in it. This isn’t a great discussionon what religion, god or observancy is. Methinks the problem people are having with Qin’s questions is that he’s using Christian as the default. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/49 "2011-07-07T02:58:59Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Methinks the problem people are having with Qin’s questions is that he’s using Christian as the default. What other possible default was there? It would’ve made the poll useless. Percentages? Maybe a better thread would be “ **How closely do you follow the precepts deemed obligatory in your religion/faith/ spiritual outlook? Explain** ”, but that one would’ve also had the endless bickering about “_my faith doesn’t need gods or precepts_”. It’s a poll and I guarantee (47 to 3 odds) that no matter how he’d asked the question we would’ve seen the same answers. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/50 "2011-07-07T03:49:19Z")
It varies by location: if I don’t understand the language, I probably won’t be attending; if I do, I will usually attend once a week (once I’ve found out the hours, which can be ridiculously difficult). I make exceptions for things such as “being in Greece for a single week”, but if I was living in Greece I’d be more likely to hear Mass through the websites of RAI or RTVE occasionally than to attend it in person weekly. And that’s assuming I’d even have access to Catholic services, which wouldn’t be true for most of the country. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/51 "2011-07-07T04:00:48Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Methinks the problem people are having with Qin’s questions is that he’s using Christian as the default. You people are a riot. **Qin** wants to know about degrees of religious observance. there have been several cites showing that frequency of attending service is a) very commonly used as a factor for measuring religious observance, and b) highly correlated with other commonly used measures for assessing religious observance. Furthermore, weekly service is, I would hazard a guess _the single most common feature of religious observance across all religious groups_ in the US and much of the rest of the world. In fact, I’d guess it is the most common feature _of all [non-Christian](http://htgc.org/test/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=28) [religious](http://www.diamondway.org/sf/calendar.html) [groups](http://bahainyc.org/events/devotional_meetings_calendar) [in](http://www.mosqueofnasreen.org/services.htm) [the](http://www.uuchurch.org/our-church/worship-services) [US](http://www.centralsynagogue.org/)_. Not all religions practice prayer, reading of scriptures, dietary restrictions, or worship of a deity, but in the US nearly every religious organization with the membership to do so holds weekly services. In fact, I would think that for anything done more than monthly and less than daily, weekly is going to be the median answer. The same set of answers **Qin** used in this poll could be used for asking how often you have sex, do laundry, buy groceries, or see a movie in the theater. ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/52 "2011-07-07T07:59:55Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > > Methinks the problem people are having with Qin’s questions is that he’s using Christian as the default. > > What other possible default was there? Thank you for illustrating the point exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Cerridwyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Cerridwyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerridwyn)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/53 "2011-07-07T19:05:00Z")
[Quote=Qin Shi Huangdi:1398435] Religious Dopers: How Observant Are You? [/QUOTE] > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > How often do you attend services at your respectives places of worship? > [@Czarcasm](#): > > These are two entirely different questions-which one did you mean to ask? Curious: Is the poll to see if people attend church or if people are in search of knowing God? Because anyone can attend church & not get anything out of it, but a good nap. One can get the word of the Lord, but not do anything with it. One can get into the spirit, but once they leave the building, the spirit is gone. How many people get involved with their church, seek the Lord regularly, read their bible & meditate on it, pray daily or where two or three have gathered together in His name? Going to church is not the only way to the big picture. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778/54 "2011-07-07T19:25:37Z")
One of the things I like about Judaism is that there are ways to be religious that don’t involve getting up early on a weekend. I go to services much less often since I got this job. It’s stressful and comes with a long commute, so I’m pretty wiped out by the weekend. I still keep kosher, light Shabbat candles, and plan a nice Shabbat dinner, though, and I don’t _feel_ like I’m significantly less religiously observant than I was. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-dopers-how-observant-are-you/587778.md?page=2)