No, I didn't know that - how interesting. We went to Pearl Harbour, and after that I noticed many shop fronts had Japanese characters. I did find that a little unusual - we don't see a lot of non-English lettering except for in concentrated areas, such as Chinatown, here.
You don't really see it much in the US either.
Yes, your viewpoint is entirely possible. I think that sometimes people say 'Christian' when perhaps they mean they believe in God as opposed to Buddha or another Deity?
Possible, I don't know the statistics on that one though. And I'm sure if there were some it would greatly vary depending on who gave the poll. One thing you have to look at though is that the Catholic Church claims me as a member because I was baptised with them. Even though I would never claim them on any poll. Gotta wonder how many other people are in the same boat as me and how much that bumps up a false number for the church.
Hmm - do you reckon it is likely the area I see mentioned here as the 'Bible belt' (never heard that phrase before I joined EHA) would have a higher rate of people regularly attending church and therefore lift up the Nation's average as a result?
Well I'm sure attendance in New York and Los Angeles don't help the numbers out any. I lived in the bible belt for quite some time and much of my family still does. Only the older generations of my family regularly attend church and insist on praying before meals. There is a rise in "non-religious" in the US for people under 30. Hopefully the trend continues.
My mom always made my dad, my sisters and myself go to church on the holidays. My dad finally found a way out of it (btw, he was raised in a
very strict Christian home) around the time I was 15 or so and luckily he felt pity for me and found reasons for me to get out of it. My mom always tried to make deals with me, "Go to bible school or get a job." I weasled my way out of that (with help from my dad) and found a more acceptable, "sports or get a job". So I was raised, for the most part, around Christian (Catholic) values and teachings. It has never been the teachings or morals that I have had a problem with. I have always had a problem with the dogma and hypocrisy of it all. I just never wanted to be associated with most the people in the church because of their pure disrespect for the teachings of the bible/Jesus. (In my hometown, most of the gossip started around 2 steps after you left church.)
But I did enjoy going to church and hearing the stories though, when we had a good priest that is.
Anyway, too much about me.