A poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute found many Canadians believe Catholicism, Evangelical Christianity and Islam are more damaging to society than they are beneficial..The Angus Reid poll, released on Monday against a backdrop of record-low religiosity, asked Canadians about their religious beliefs. It found that overall, Canadians are more likely to believe religious and faith communities are making more positive contributions to the country than negative ones..A total of 31% of those polled said the good of organized religion outweighs the bad, while 22% claimed the opposite. The largest group of Canadians, at 47%, said religion contributes good and bad to society in equal amounts..However, when respondents were asked to.assess whether four specific religions’ presence in public life has been beneficial or damaging to Canadian society, they were more likely to believe Catholicism, Evangelical Christianity and Islam were mostly damaging..While this depended on the religion of respondents,.only Evangelical Christianity is seen as more damaging than beneficial by every other self-identified religious group. Yet Evangelical Christians were also the most likely to believe organized religion makes overall positive contributions to Canadian society, with 67% claiming it is a net positive for the country..For Canadians with no religious affiliation, only the presence of Hinduism, Sikhism, and Judaism are more likely to be seen as positive than negative for Canada. The majority of non-religious Canadians, at 39% believe religious and faith communities are making overall positive contributions to the country..Respondents from Evangelical Christianity and Islam were also more likely to feel that Canada doesn’t make room for their beliefs in society.. Screen-Shot-2022-04-18-at-12.53.14-PMChart courtesy of Angus Reid Institute .The poll showed that 19% of Canadians now classify themselves as “non-believers,” 46% say they are “spiritually uncertain,” 19% are “privately faithful,” and 16% are “religiously committed.”.The polling found that spirituality varies across Canada, with Quebecers being the least likely to be either “privately faithful” or “religiously committed” (24%), while in the Prairies, at least one-quarter of those polled in Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan instead fall into the “religiously committed” category..Younger Canadians are also more likely than older Canadians be “non-believers,” with 26% of men and 22% of women aged 18-to-34-years-old falling into that category. Women over the age of 55 are the most likely of any group to be more religious, with 43% being either “privately faithful” or “religiously committed.”.Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard.mhorwood@westernstandard.news.Twitter.com/@Matt_HorwoodWS
