Church of the Evangelical Carebear
For the purposes of experimentation and curiosity, I decided to take a (very unscientific) poll of my facebook 'friends' to tally up how they list their religious affiliations. My hypothesis going in was that, on the whole, my peers are unlikely to list a religious affiliation. I polled 85 of my friends for this survey, and you may recognize yourself in the results, although no names are listed.
No comment: 47
Agnostic (3 total):
"Agnostic"
"Still Pondering"
"I dunno"Funny comments (18 total):
"Evangelical Carebear"
"Ambivalent"
"Agnostic with Epicurean leanings"
"Jesus is Amazing"
"meh?"
"Brigadoon"
"With sexy results!"
"God rides a Harley"
"Other" x2
"Disillusioned"
"Earth, Air, Water, Fire"
"Madonna's Kabbalah"
"love is... for sharing"
"Love many, trust few, and always paddle your own canoe."
"Armageddon, bring me home"
"I can't decide whether I am for, or against Karma"
"Also "other" -- mostly I believe in the power of cybertronic pirates (with monkey helpers)"Affiliation (11 total):
Christian 7 (-United, -Mennonite -Catholic)
Jewish 1 (-Orthodox)
Hindu 2
Pagan 1Non-affiliated religion (2 total):
"Believe in God but not religion"
"spiritual"Non-religious (4 total):
Atheist 3
Secular Humanist 1
So, what is the significance of this finding? Well, I'm not sure, to be honest with you. Clearly, claiming affiliation either to religion, or not, is in the minority (20%), with the majority not naming their position (55.3%), and a surprisingly high number making a witty comment (21.2%). Only a very small number claim to not know what they believe (3.5%).
So, then, we need to look at what we don't know. We don't know whether those that make no comment do so because they are private about their religion, or because they haven't chosen an affiliation. We also don't know why such a high number choose to make a 'joke' comment, rather than make a statement of fact. What differentiates those who wish to make their religious affiliation publicly known, and those that do not?
We also need to consider the venue, an online social networking site. There is probably concern by some parties that future employers or other persons of import may look at a profile, and judge the person based upon the information presented, particularly religious affiliation. Others may feel that religion is something they share at their church or with their family, but not the larger community. Likely a great majority are just not comfortable sharing with their friends what religious view they hold. Speaking from personal experience, discussion of religious issues is not something that comes up in casual conversation with friends, even very old, close friends.
Is religion the last great taboo of our age-group? (You wouldn't guess so from America-Middle East politics) What makes people hold it so close to their chest? Do people judge others based on religious preference?
I'd love your insight on this one.
I'm not that surprised. Maybe the majority of people aren't very religious anymore (within the crowd you are friends with) and instead of labeling it, they leave it blank or make a joke. A lot of people are probably agnostic but just don't label it.
Another possibility is that it is a taboo topic if you are religious and in science. Since that is the area you study, more of your friends are likely to study science as well making it harder for them to discuss their religious leanings. Or maybe I'm just over generalizing.
We did discuss while you were doing this that if it was within my friends the outcome may be different (small town syndrome).
Just how 'random' was your sampling. What method did you use SRS, Strat-SRS, cluster? Com'on throw me a bone here ...sorry couldn't help it, I am an epi-geek-iologist after all.
Mine's left blank, but I think I did that because I don't really pigeon hole myself into any particular group, nor am I particularly religious. Mine's more of a life philosophy. Maybe I should start a cult with it. I think there's some cheap land for sale in Jonestown (ok, bad joke bordering on offensive).
I think Sarah's right in that our generation isn't as religious as our parents (at least in these parts). Maybe it's because we have better explanations now for phenomenon that used to be explained by religious interventions.
I think the venue plays a much higher role than you emphasized. Facebook is certainly a semi-public forum, but many people don't take it seriously, unlike other public forums (like a classroom discussion, or at the bar). Me, for example. I think Facebook is a gooey piece of smelly shit. Yes I have a profile. No, there is not one piece of sincere information I've placed there about myself. Except my name. Basically, I don't think people express their religious views on Facebook because they realize it is an inappropriate forum.
Ok, your 'smelly shit' comment is taken, sort of. I know some people that do think that the internet (and facebook) are great outlets for religious discussion. But then, as I mentioned in the post, most people I know don't even find 'real life' an appropriate forum for expressing religious views. Jimmy, for example, holds his views very close to his chest. I can't recall if you have one in particular, Emma, even though we have discussed religion before.
It would be interesting to note, as you mentioned to me personally, if those people that abstain from mentioning religion also abstain from releasing other details as well.
How's this: My four years of theological education has left me..........................paralyzed to express a goddam thing. It's a great big mess, and I love it. So there you go....my poo-pooing of Facebook (ha!) is just a cover for a personal, deep-seated inability to express adequately my lack of a relationship with God. And the fact that perhaps you are correct, that I too hold it close to my chest (hence your inability to recall my position, despite our conversations on the topic).
It will be very interesting to see how Facebook and other "networking" sites evolve as semi-public forums. Just as the children that grew up after me used MSN more than the phone, it may be that they will find themselves using Facebook for serious and personal expression as young adults. It's striking how many times Facebook groups have been headline news, pushing and reflecting public sentiment on issues as diverse as impending copyright legislation, public breastfeeding, and carbon trading schemes.
As a personal aside, we Evangelical Carebears wear our religious proudly and publicly.
Dear Rob, I have renamed this post in honour of your most ridiculous religion choice. Congrats.
And, yes, you are right about the rise of Facebook as a legitmate forum for public awareness. In fact, the media (in all its forms) likes to illustrate that 12,000 people have signed up for suchandsuch group, so the public must be behind the cause! To which I say, O must they?
Clicking buttons is easy. As my database prof says, "monkeys could do that".
Wow, I should really check your site more often. Interesting post. Okay,they're all interesting, but some are more interesting than others.
I've left my affiliation blank as my relationship with my particular sect is a little more than nominal, but a little less than whole hearted. If I were to put anything, it would probably be Laodicean. As you know, the issue for me is a personal and complex one, and not something I am completely comfortable with advertising next to my LastFM listens.
I'll just go ahead and get the definition for that, mmkay.
: lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics
— Laodicean