Gwynne Dyer: Faith and the gender divide

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      Did you hear about the agnostic dyslexic insomniac? She lay awake all night wondering if there was a Dog.

      But she’s a pretty rare bird. According to a large survey carried out in the United Kingdom by Professor David Voas of the University of Essex, more than half of British men who are now in their early 40s (54 percent) are agnostics or atheists, but only one-third of women of the same age (34 percent) hold similar views.

      The gender difference was even more striking when the 9,000 respondents were asked about their belief in a life after death. Only 35 percent of the men said they believed that there was some kind of individual survival beyond the grave; 60 percent of women said they did. That’s a difference of almost two-to-one in the level of belief, among people who otherwise have similar backgrounds. Hmm.

      Now, this is obviously a topic on which a wise commentator would be very wary of offering an opinion. Much safer to keep your mouth shut and write about something else. Which may explain why this whole question about gender differences in belief in God came as a surprise to me, because when I looked into the literature it turns out that the social scientists have known about it for ages.

      There is a thriving academic industry dedicated to proposing reasons for this huge belief gap. One theory holds that men are just more likely to be risk-takers (except Blaise Pascal, the 17th-century French philosopher whose famous “wager” stated that we should live our live as if God exists in order to escape an eternity of torture in Hell. If He turns out not to exist, we haven’t really lost all that much. It was a breakthrough in probability theory).

      Another theory is that men who score relatively high on the autism scale are also more likely to be atheists or agnostics. But that doesn’t really get us very far, since the great majority of men are not autistic, and yet a majority of British men don’t believe in God.

      You will note that I am only quoting speculations on male character traits here. Some of the above-mentioned social scientists also speculate on aspects of “female” socialization and character in their search for reasons for the great disparity in belief, but that is a minefield I do not plan to enter today. Let us instead go beyond Professor Voas’s statistics for Britain and see whether the same difference persists across cultures and continents.

      Belief in God is much higher in the United States, although it is dropping rapidly. A Harris poll in 2009 found that 82 percent of Americans had never doubted the existence of God; the same poll in 2014 found that the number had fallen to 74 percent. This is due almost entirely to a fall in belief among younger Americans: a Pew poll of “millennials” in 2007 found that 83 percent were believers; the same poll in 2012 found only 68 percent.

      But the gender gap in belief also exists in the US, although it is less dramatic: 77 percent of American women say they have an absolutely certain belief in a God or universal spirit, but only 65 percent of American men say the same. Indeed, the gap exists in every country of the developed world, although there are intriguing national differences in how wide it is.

      In former West Germany, where 48 percent of the population believe in God, the gap between men and women is eight percent. In former East Germany, the cradle of the Protestant Reformation, where four decades of Communist rule eroded the hold of Christianity on the population, only 16 percent believe in God—but the gap between men and women is less than three percent.

      Fifty-eight percent of Russians believe in God, but the gender gap is as big as it is in Britain: 25 percent. Whereas in Turkey, a relatively developed Muslim country where almost 95 percent of the population believe in God, there is no difference at all between the beliefs of men and of women.

      What are we to make of all this? Start with the fact that decisions of this sort are rarely made on an entirely rational basis. Just as the great majority of believers everywhere never chose their original religious beliefs—they were just born into them—so any later changes in their beliefs are probably driven more by their personal circumstances than by conscious choice. Consider the difference between the two Germanies, for example.

      So what are the differences between the personal circumstances of men and women that might lead to different outcomes in terms of belief? That will obviously vary from one country to another, but women still suffer from greater social and economic disadvantages than men almost everywhere.

      If you have less control over the course of your own life, then belief in an all-powerful God who is just, and will ultimately put all the injustices right, is a very attractive proposition. In that case, the gender gap in belief is neither intellectual nor emotional. It’s simply pragmatic.

      Comments

      16 Comments

      William

      Jan 28, 2015 at 1:36pm

      So if I am a member of a religious hierarchy, my best chance of maintaining my position is to interfere with as many aspects of my flock's lives as possible.

      The less freedom they have, the more religious they will be, and the more religious they are, the more power I will have over them, and the more I can restrict their freedom. Neat.

      Suddenly the Taliban's insistence on beards for all men makes perfect sense.

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      I Chandler

      Jan 28, 2015 at 1:37pm

      DYER: Belief in God is much higher in the US - 82 percent never doubted the existence of God;"

      Not surprising - A Quarter of Americans Think the Sun Orbits the Earth and the wtc holy trinity:
      http://www.livescience.com/43593-americans-ignorant-about-science.html

      The WSJ recently had a article Science/astrobiology Makes the Case for God. - describing new scientific evidence that bolsters the claim that the appearance of life in the universe requires a miracle. The author of the piece, Eric Metaxas, is not himself a scientist. Intelligent design, anyone?
      http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-new-physics-theory-of-life/

      DYER: "Fifty-eight percent of Russians believe in God, but the gender gap is 25 percent. "

      The schism and the fourth crusade failure might have led to their lack of faith:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Crusade

      Jimmie Moglia explains that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing,& complete ignorance no safer:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLQnpM61WMg

      DYER: "Start with the fact that decisions of this sort are rarely made on an entirely rational basis."

      Despite humanity’s considerable leaps in scientific and technological progress in the past 200 years, the collective consciousness of humankind appears to have stood still or even, in many instances, to have regressed. Magical Thinking and the Myth of Providential Men:

      http://newsjunkiepost.com/2014/08/30/magical-thinking-and-the-myth-of-pr...

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      Mosby

      Jan 28, 2015 at 9:38pm

      If women ruled the world, there would be virtually no wars or genocide or violence in general because women are more about love and kindness and hope. The belief in a god is an automatic extension of those values (i.e. it comes with the territory).

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      SPY vs SPY

      Jan 29, 2015 at 7:58am

      Ah Mosby -

      4 Rawandan Catholic Nuns were sent to Brussels and were prosecuted for WAR CRIMES for their participation in the Massacre of their fellow human beings!!!

      At an Inquiry into ABUSES of the CANADIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN QUEBEC - a man testified about abuse in CONVENT SCHOOLS (RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS FOR WHITE KIDS - I LIVED IN ONE ONCE)

      When a young 12 year old girl decided she had enough of the NUNS BULLSHIT and wanted to go home - A group of Nuns held her WHILE THE MOTHER SUPERIOR ( NOW THERE'S AN OXYMORON)- TO DISCIPLINE HER -

      PULLED ALL HER TEETH OUT WITH A PAIR OF PLIERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

      It ain't whats tucked into your underwear that makes you a descent person - it's whats in your HEART!!

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      doconnor

      Jan 29, 2015 at 9:52am

      Mr. Dyer's theory is that women tend to be poorer and poorer people tend to be more religious, which is why women are more religious. That theory should be testable.

      My thought is women tend to enjoy the social aspects of church more, which makes them more accepting of the church's claims.

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      RUK

      Jan 29, 2015 at 10:25am

      My theory is that women are more religious because they are less educated (which in turn relates to cultural pressures and norms).

      Gender inequalities in education are acknowledged, and the elimination of them is sufficiently serious that the UN put this topic into its Millenium Development Goals.

      The tendency of religious belief to wither under exposure to education is also documented. The European Social Survey suggests that spending one more year in school leads to a roughly 10% drop in church attendence and superstitious beliefs.

      In short, religion is for the ignorant and superstitious, not for a particular gender.

      doconnor

      Jan 29, 2015 at 11:09am

      @RUK

      I believe that these days in the West women tend to be more slightly educated then men on average.

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      Religion

      Jan 29, 2015 at 11:52am

      Religion, because some people cannot think for themselves and like fairy tales about some man in the sky wearing a white robe touching fingers with the fallen.

      I love fiction!!

      @Doconner. Education is paying to read books that are free at a library, it's an elite way of saying i'm better than you. Intelligence is something that only effects a select few of the populace in order not to upset the balance of life.

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      Mr. Woman

      Jan 29, 2015 at 11:54am

      People who are very religious are always the ones who live some kind of enslaved life. Women often do the tedious bum numbing jobs in society, this dull drudgery would weaken the intellectual resolve of any free thinking human. Perhaps its type of employment that dictates how observant a person may become?

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      Janice Vian

      Jan 29, 2015 at 11:19pm

      I do hope Dr. Dyer gets to read these. Some of them are priceless. And so, ...

      It occurs to me that women have relatively few opportunities or social leverage to control men, or to exert much influence over the oppressive and abusive tendencies of patriarchy, BUT, if they can drag their men (and their sons,) to church, they can use church teachings and the peer pressure of the congregation to partially control male behavior. Shaming is a powerful social lever. While I don't think this a rational reason for women to believe, it is a rational reason for women TO ACT like they believe.

      In societal evolution, there are also selective pressures, and women who can influence their men to conform toward the social norms which are beneficial to women, by using this lever of social control, are more likely to raise more daughters who are believers, and who will do the same thing.

      On the other side of this tactic of social control, when men want to escape, as they are wont to do, from the pressures that women exert toward social conformity, one way to do so is to stop going to church. This is not a rational reason to not believe, but it is a rational reason TO ACT like you don't believe. BUT, of course, their church defying behavior functions as an influence on other males, to not believe.

      QED, I hope.

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