# When would a minority of people be religious and how would society look like? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 9, 2021, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260 "2021-08-09T00:32:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2021, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/101 "2021-08-11T14:10:38Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > We don’t care if our politicians are atheist. Downunder, we are sectarian to the stage of preferring our PMs to be atheists. Or at least hide their light under the bushel. Indeed, as an outlier Australian PM Scott Morrison is an active practicing Pentecostal Horizon Church in his Sutherland electorate. [![](https://i.ibb.co/rtHp5K3/Horizon-Church.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/rtHp5K3/Horizon-Church.jpg) He invited the media to a service during the last election, yes it was stage managed but there is no doubt he is devout. But when he tells a Christian conference he was called to do God’s work as prime minister, a majority of Australian cringed. We’re paying him to do our work rather than favour the dieties. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2021, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/102 "2021-08-11T14:41:35Z")
> **[Metaphysical naturalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysical_naturalism)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Metaphysical naturalism (also called ontological naturalism, philosophical naturalism and antisupernaturalism) is a philosophical worldview which holds that there is nothing but natural elements, principles, and relations of the kind studied by the natural sciences. Methodological naturalism is a philosophical basis for science, for which metaphysical naturalism provides only one possible ontological foundation. Broadly, the corresponding theol... ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2021, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/103 "2021-08-11T14:54:04Z")
Thanks. I guess I’m a metaphysical naturalist, then. I also don’t believe in free will; not sure if that is a necessary consequence or not. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2021, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/104 "2021-08-11T16:56:45Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > How about “scientists”? I don’t believe in anything supernatural, but I work an office job unrelated to the sciences. In order to comply with your nomenclature, do I need to change careers, or start believing in auras and healing crystals? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2021, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/105 "2021-08-11T17:40:16Z")
Sure. Go ahead. Realign your life based on a bizarre absolution of a facetious statement. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/106 "2021-08-11T17:45:32Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > How about “scientists”? Nooo. Sadly, that’s a big fail. Although I know more atheist scientists than not, I have also known a whole slew of somewhat to very devout scientists as well. Up to and including a couple of PhD creationists (one I’ve met when he was a tenured biology professor, one’s an astrophysicist cousin of a good friend of mine). ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/107 "2021-08-11T17:49:58Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Sure. Go ahead. Realign your life based on a bizarre absolution of a facetious statement. Oh, you were being _facetious_! Sorry, I totally missed that. Were you also being facetious when you suggested that atheists, by definition, can’t believe in woo and pseudo science? Or did you think that was a legit argument? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2021, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/108 "2021-08-11T17:52:14Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Yeah… it’s a bit of cat herding, isn’t it? It’s like the Bill Hicks bit: > > [snip] Yes… as an anarchist, we, umm, well, you know… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/109 "2021-08-12T00:05:13Z")
Skeptic. Although a Skeptic can be agnostic or perhaps even a Deist. I am a skeptic. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/110 "2021-08-12T07:04:34Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Mm, this just doesn’t happen in the UK. I think you have a selective memory, there. Blair was quite upfront about being religious and [making faith-based political decisions](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4772142.stm). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/111 "2021-08-12T07:18:52Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > The main “religion” of China is listed variously as “China folk religion” or “Ancestor worship”. But it’s kind of a vague thing compared to religion as many in the US would see it. AIUI there’s no church attendance or doctrine. Few rules about how you live your life apart from “do your ancestors proud” and a few ceremonies like burning money that you don’t need to take particularly seriously. But isn’t “Chinese folk religion” quite a broad umbrella that covers not only the very vague “cultural” ancestor worship you mention, but also the various ([sometimes huge](https://www.chinahighlights.com/xian/attraction/xuanyuan-temple.htm)) temples & shrines, bigger communal ceremonies and [what I would consider clergy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_ritual_mastery_traditions). Also, from what I understand, the line between the more “organized” sects like Taoism and CFR is very, very blurry, so someone could be listed as mainly CFR and yet have a lot of Taoist or Confucian practice. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/112 "2021-08-12T07:19:29Z")
No we don’t 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/113 "2021-08-12T07:21:14Z")
What, [these guys](https://www.christianscience.com/)? (Colloquially, they do call each other just “Scientists”, as in “Did you know Val Kilmer is a Scientist?”) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/114 "2021-08-12T07:22:09Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I think you have a selective memory, there. Blair was quite upfront about being religious and [making faith-based political decisions](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4772142.stm). At what point in his PM career was he upfront about it? Because famously he had to keep quiet about it for fear of ridicule and distrust. The UK population would not wear such open religiosity very well. I agree with SanVito, the US levels of open religious political speech just doesn’t happen in the UK. > Tony Blair was reluctant to speak out about the depth of his faith while he was prime minister for fear that voters would regard him as a “nutter”, he reveals in an interview. [Here’s the article.](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/nov/26/religion.tonyblair) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/115 "2021-08-12T07:22:37Z")
_I_ did _not_ know that, cool new fact, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/116 "2021-08-12T07:23:52Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > At what point in his PM career was he upfront about it? … when is that BBC article I posted from? And when was he PM until? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/117 "2021-08-12T07:30:47Z")
He was asked, as a known Christian, if he prayed. Of course he’s going to say yes. That is not the same as wielding his faith like a Christian sword, as US politicians are apt to do. He very pointedly converted to Catholicism _after_ he left office, because he didn’t want to draw attention to his faith. Thing is, at the time, we all knew he went to church, but he didn’t ever invoke his faith in his speeches. That interview he was asked a pointed question. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/118 "2021-08-12T07:34:53Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > He was asked, as a known Christian, if he prayed. Of course he’s going to say yes. That is not the same as wielding his faith like a Christian sword, as US politicians are apt to do. “I went to war because God told me to” might not be wielding his faith as a sword to you, but I imagine the Iraqis would have a different opinion. > [@SanVito](#): > > That interview he was asked a pointed question. And he did not shy away from answering it. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/119 "2021-08-12T07:34:58Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > … when is that BBC article I posted from? And when was he PM until? He remained PM in name for another year but 6 months on from that interview is when he announced his intention to step down (in line with the agreement he made with Gordon Brown some years before). So it is from the point where he knew he no longer had to win an election and where there could be no political fallout. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260/120 "2021-08-12T07:39:02Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > And he did not shy away from answering it. Years after the fact and when it could cause him no political harm. Which is precisely in line with what SanVito and I have suggested (i.e. that the levels seen in the USA just don’t happen here) Tony Blair was my MP for years before he became PM, religion did not figure prominently in his speech. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-would-a-minority-of-people-be-religious-and-how-would-society-look-like/948260.md?page=7)